Brothers
by thethirdtroll
Summary: They were wrong. Harry wasn't an only child. He had a twin brother, hidden from the world in plain sight, and he had a childhood as bad as Harry's. Now when his brother comes to live with him how will everyone cope? Yes it is actually an update.
1. Oh Brother!

A/N: I got this idea when reading another story where Harry finds out he has a long lost twin brother and figured I'd go a bit more in depth and write one like it. It might be a bit interesting might not. Do review to tell me either way.  
  
Setting: Summer before 6th year but there is no prophecy. (Well not the one from the book I might throw one in just for the fun of it.)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own it if I did I wouldn't be posting this on a free website would I? Nor would it be referred to as fan fiction.  
  
Chapter 1: Oh Brother!  
  
Harry woke up and looked at the glowing letters of his clock. 10:30 I slept in! The Dursley's are going to kill me! Harry hurriedly got dressed and attempted to comb his hair giving up quickly and rushing to make breakfast. He was surprised to find his aunt reading a letter while his Uncle was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Aunt Petunia where is Uncle Vernon and Dudly? They are usually eating right about now." Harry cautiously asked.  
  
"verno went to work early and Dudly went with his friends early this morning. They said they had to work on some project for school. He's such a smart boy. Your breakfast is on the table."  
  
Harry looked at the eggs and bacon on the table suspiciously. Why is she being nice to me? Why is she not mad I slept in? He sat down and was about to take a bite when an owl swoped in and dropped a letter onto his plate. Harry picked it up and looked at the back. A bit early for school letters isn't it?  
  
Harry looked at the seal on the back. It was from Hogwarts but it wasn't addressed as it usually was in fact written on the front was:  
  
Harry Open Immediately  
  
Harry carefully opened the letter and pulled out a single parchment. In neat curvy writing it read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I am writing to inform you that I will be paying you a visit later today. I will be at your front door at precisely 3pm and I hope to speak with the Dursleys as well. I will talk to you then and I hope you are holding up well. See you soon.  
  
Albus Dumbledore  
  
Harry looked at the parchment shocked before handing it to aunt Petunia. She looked at the parchment in horror.  
  
"but...But why would one of your kind want to talk to us?" Petunia asked terrified.  
  
"Don't know. The Headmaster is kind of weird like that. Guess we'll have to find out." Harry rushed his breakfast before she could get mad.  
  
Just as Harry was heading up the stairs to go do his homework Petunia called to him. "Oh Harry dear!" Did she just call me dear? Harry thought as he came back into the kitchen.  
  
"Vernon wanted you to work in the garden today and I would say you are better off staying on his good side if this Headmaster of yours is coming over today."  
  
Harry was still suspicious of her kind attitude toward him as he went outside and became curious when he spotted the letter she had been reading when he came in. It was written on parchment. Suspicious he thought.  
  
Harry worked doing the planting and the landscaping until about noon when he came in to eat. Aunt Petunia was cleaning the living room so he glanced at the letter she had read that morning. The first thing Harry noticed was the signature, which was from none other than Alastor "mad-eye" Moody. That explains the odd attitude. Harry thought. He was about to read the letter when he heard Aunt Petunia coming. Harry began to make himself a sandwich and ate quickly.  
  
After washing his plate he asked if he could do some homework and take a shower before Dumbledore arrived. When Aunt Petunia agreed Harry was really curious as to what was in the letter.  
  
Harry decided to finish at least one assignment so that it would look like he did his homework. He carefully left his potions book and his unfinished homework on the desk where it looked like he had been working and changed into his least baggy clothes.  
  
The clock said 2:58 when he finished everything and rushed downstairs. The doorbell rang and Harry opened the door to be greeted by Dumbledore and Lupin and to his surprise Tonks (who just happened to be holding Remus' hand).  
  
"Come on in. Uncle Vernon just got home and well I don't know where Dudly is and frankly I don't care but make yourselves at home." Remus smiled at Harry's babbling before following Tonks in. Vernon and Petunia were sitting on the love seat leaving the teachers to sit on the sofa. Harry chose to stand and offered to get something for the teachers to drink.  
  
"Sit down Harry this concerns you." Dumbledore stated simply. Harry immediately sat on the floor.  
  
"Harry as you are about to turn sixteen and you have extensive knowledge of Voldemort and the coming war I figure I should treat you like an adult and tell you the truth. As you know at the end of last year Lucius Malfoy failed to do as Voldemort asked and was arrested by the Ministry. Lucius was given the dementors Kiss and it was later discovered that Narcissia had been murdered leaving Draco without parents.  
  
Now Harry you know about your parents death and your short life with them but they had a secret." Remus sat up straighter at this. He had no idea why he was told to be here and had no clue this was about Lily and James.  
  
"The day you were born your parents got quite a shock when you were followed by a second smaller boy. Voldermort was after anyone in your father's bloodline for a reason I will go over later. To save their sons they separated you. Your mother was going to give the smaller baby to the orphanage to care for and hope no one would find out until he entered Hogwarts but a different option showed itself."  
  
There was another knock at the door. "That would be your brother." Dumbledore said as Harry reached the door and yanked it open.  
  
"Potter!"  
  
"Malfoy!"  
  
Professor Snape shoved Draco into the room and told him to sit down with everyone else. Snape dissaperated.  
  
"As I was saying, your mother was going to give the smaller baby to the orphanage to care for and hope no one would find out until he entered Hogwarts but a different option showed itself. Narcissia had given birth a month too early and the baby was very week and sick. The baby died and the choice was made to give your younger brother to them in place of the dead baby. The Malfoy's were not aware when this happened and I put a spell on Draco so he would look like a Malfoy until the day his true heritage was revealed. Draco as your parents are no longer capable of raising you, you are to be raised along with your twin brother."  
  
The Dursley's who had not spoken a word since the beginning of the conversation suddenly became animated.  
  
"I will not have another one of them in the house. I will not let another one stay and I am most certainly not clothing this one." Vernon shouted.  
  
Harry leaned over to Draco and whispered. "Lucky at least he denies you I have to where my cousins elephant clothes. I feel bad though you have to live here with them. I utterly pity you."  
  
Draco looked at him confused noticing for the first time the clothes that were 5 sizes too big.  
  
Vernon was still ranting when Dumbledore finally stated loudly, "Enough. As the only living relative to the two boys you have to take them in or you will be prosecuted under wizarding child abandonment laws. Now do you boys have any questions before we figure out how to transfigure your room?"  
  
"Sir but how were the Malfoys never able to tell that he wasn't completely evil like they were. I assume with being my mothers son there is some kindness in him." Harry asked shyly.  
  
"When it first became apparent that Draco was not ruthless and sneaky Lucius decided to fix that. Any time Draco would be kind Lucius would use the Craticus curse on him. When Draco was enrolled into school Lucius knew he couldn't punish every crime so he enlisted Victor and Gregory to watch him and report any kindness and Draco paid for it when he got home from school. When matters became too much for him to handle that way Lucius decided to take desperate measures and used the Imperious curse on him. Now that they are gone there is nothing stopping Draco's true personality from coming out." Dumbledore answered. Harry looked at Draco sadly. So I'm not the only one who had a bad childhood.  
  
"Now then to your room Harry." Harry led Dumbledore upstairs to his room and showed him the mess.  
  
"Wow looks like Tonk's apartment last I was there." Remus said before getting hit by Tonks.  
  
"You should talk Mr. I live in a trashed out house."  
  
"Hey that's not my fault I'm every time its clean I transform and mess it up again."  
  
"Both of you quit." Dumbledore said as he waved his wand and the room instantly organized. He waved it again and the room turned into a room fit for two.  
  
"Now Remus, Tonks I brought you so you can take the boys shopping. All of Draco's stuff with the exception of his wand was taken from him when his father was arrested so he needs new things. From the looks of it Harry is in need of new Muggle clothes as well so you can take them shopping. Here is a portkey enjoy your shopping. I will be in contact boys." He dissapperated.  
  
"Let's go boys." Tonks said and they all grabbed the portkey. 


	2. A new look and a new attitude

Disclaimer: see chapter 1 Chapter 2: A new look and attitude.  
  
Draco's look had changed in the few minutes after he had been told of his heritage. He now sported black hair like Harry's but kept his blue eyes. His face now looked kinder and he was shorter and a bit more tanned.  
  
Harry turned to him and jumped. "Bloody hell you look different."  
  
"I do?" Draco was confused.  
  
"Don't you two ever pay attention? Dumbledore told you the spell would wear off when you found out your true heritage and its worn off. Now to Gringotts, we have a lot to do." Remus said simply and led the way taking Tonks hand in his.  
  
"Hey Remus!" Harry yelled as they ran after him. "Is there something going on between you two?"  
  
Remus just smiled. Both Draco and Harry were amazed at how much gold was in the vault when it was opened.  
  
"You have this much money?" Draco stared in awe. For an orphan kid Harry apparently was very wealthy.  
  
"Most of its from the WWW. I own a third of the company so I get a third of the profits. Apparently the shop is doing well." Harry filled a bag with money as did Draco and Remus.  
  
"Come on we need to get some of this money converted into Muggle money so we can get you some real clothes." Remus said as he looked at Harry's outfit.  
  
Tonks laughed at him. "So says the man with the patched up old clothes."  
  
They spent a few hours shopping and enjoying themselves before Remus said the dreded words. "Well we better get you guys home." He was a bit depressed himself. He was beginning to get attached to Draco who was loosening up a bit.  
  
"Can we eat first? I'm starved." Draco asked looking hopeful.  
  
"Great idea little brother and then Remus can tell me how long him and Tonks have been dating." Harry said making Remus blush.  
  
"You know old man you aren't too bad even for a werewolf. I thought you werewolf murderous creature from what Snape said. And Harry if you call me little one more time I'll kill you with my bare hands."  
  
"Snape just doesn't like me cause I was your father's friend and James beat him at everything except in a greasy hair competition. Now for some food. And I am not old!"  
  
"He finally agrees with me! Go Draco!" Tonks clapped her hands at Draco achieving what she had been trying to get Remus to say for months.  
  
They ate and the boys were portkeyed home with Tonks and Remus apperating with their stuff not far behind. It was already 8 and the Dursleys were ticked. Tonks and Remus said their goodbyes and Remus promised to try and get them out of there as soon as possible before apperating back to Order Headquarters.  
  
Vernon was turning purple with rage. "You go off for hours, come back late, haven't finished your chores, and expect me to have another one of you in the house! Fine but you will have no meals for a week to pay for this. The both of you!" With that Vernon slammed the boy's bedroom door.  
  
"No meals for a week? That's inhumane!" Draco stated in disbeilief.  
  
"Don't let him hear you say that or it'll be longer. We'll be fine. You get used to it after a while, the constant lack of food and the verbal abuse and the hard work. Not that they feed me much when I am fed." Harry stated as he continued writing a letter.  
  
"What are you writing?" Draco asked sitting on the bottom bunk bed.  
  
"A letter to Ron and Hermione. They always send me food during these no food or less than military ration times. I never starve. I won't tell them everything about you just enough so they'll double the portions. Sirius-" he broke off. "They always send lots of stuff especially on my birthday. Hey here's hoping we can escape to the Weasley's this summer."  
  
"They seem like good friends. I never had any friends. I was always jealous of you three. You have the perfect friendship."  
  
"No we don't. Ron and Hermione fought for half of third year and me and Ron fought for a while in fourth. We have our disagreements and stuff but we are there when we really need each other. I don't know if Ron will accept you real fast but Hermione will. She likes to find people to bug. Please don't ever mention SPEW though. I think she's forgot for a bit. Hey we better get to sleep if we want to be able to do our chores tomorrow." Harry yawned.  
  
"I claim top bunk." Draco said as he jumped to the top bunk and settled under the covers.  
  
"Fine with me little brother. Just let me send these letters and I'll turn out the light." He handed Hedwig the letters and whispered to her before going to turn out the light.  
  
"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?"  
  
"I think that this summer will be better with a brother. Night.  
  
"Night." *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* The next morning Harry woke on time. He got up and got dressed before he remembered to wake Draco.  
  
"What are we up so early for?" Draco asked as he fell off the top bed and groaned in pain.  
  
"Tonight you're sleeping on the bottom so you won't make so much noise in the morning. If you want food you better get up. The Dursleys wake in thirty minutes and will make us start working right away so get up." Harry went to the window and looked out just in time to see four owls approaching.  
  
"Food has arrived. Get off your bum and help me unload this food. We have to get it stashed before the Dursleys wake."  
  
Draco made his way over and untied Errol. "Is this owl dead?" he asked as he looked at the unconscious owl.  
  
"Nah Errol is usually here for a few days for recovery. Just put him in Hedwig's cage and he'll survive." Harry said as he pet Hedwig before moving to the unknown owl.  
  
"This one is a school owl. What's it doing here? And what is in this package?"  
  
That would be Hagrid's rock cakes. Beware they are not edible." Harry looked at the letter tied to the last package and read it to himself before smiling.  
  
"Apparently Remus found Molly packing food for us and decided to send a few goodies to us so that we can have some fun. WWW supplies." Draco read the letter noticing something at the bottom. He read it aloud. "Use the mirror to contact us. Its faster.' What does that mean?"  
  
It means," he searched through his trunk, "if we want to talk to him all we do is call him through this." Harry showed Draco the mirror that Sirius had given him. "My god father and dad used to use this to talk when they had separate detentions. All you do is say whoever has the counterpart's name and they answer through their mirror. Watch." Harry looked at the mirror and stated 'Remus Lupin'.  
  
The mirror flashed for a moment before Remus' face appeared in it. "What can I do for ya? Please make it quick though I have a meeting in 5 minutes." Remus said.  
  
"I'm just showing Draco how it works. Hey Remus when your in the meeting ask Dumbledore if Draco is going to change houses and be enrolled under Potter."  
  
"Will do. Anything else?" Remus began making his way towards the meeting room.  
  
"Yeah." Draco thought of something. "Are you and Tonks dating."  
  
Remus smiled. "I have to go my meeting is starting." With that he deactivated the mirror.  
  
"Notice how he always changes the topic or ends the conversation when we bring that up. So what chores do we have to do today? You mentioned chores." Draco smiled thinking that they'd get the answer one day.  
  
Harry glanced at his clock.  
  
"First we eat enough in five minutes to last us till 'dinner' then we make the Dursleys breakfast and work on re-landscaping the back garden. By the time we finish that and get a shower Aunt Petunia will have more chores for us to do. Usually about four o'clock they'll let me go for a walk until dinner time. That's the best time to talk to Remus or Tonks. On the way home I am usually stopped by Mrs. Figg, a squib who lives down the street. In case of emergency you can go to her house because she can contact the Order."  
  
"The order?" Draco asked confused as he bit into a pumpkin pasty.  
  
"remind me to explain that to you later right now we have to start our chores. If you want a shower before we start you'd best hurry. The Dursleys will be up in a few." With that Harry hurried downstairs to start the dursleys' breakfast.  
  
Draco came down about two minutes before the Dursleys entered the kitchen.  
  
"You're barley getting up boy! You worthless- go work on the yard before I let you stay in the broom closet. Ungrateful little brat. Just wait till Marge sees this tomorrow." Vernon began to rant.  
  
Harry froze with the bacon dangling over Dudly's plate. Dudly tried to grab it but Harry whirled around to face his uncle. "Aunt Margo's coming?" he paled visibly.  
  
"Yes. She'll be here tomorrow and you know the rules. You can explain them to your dear brother or I can lock you in that broom closet till she leaves your choice."  
  
Draco torn between laughing at Dudly trying to reach the bacon and fear of something that terrified the boy who lived so much. He had never even seen him this afraid during the Triwizard Tournament.  
  
Harry finally finished serving Dudly his breakfast before muttering that they would be working on the garden and dragging Draco out the door.  
  
After they got outside, Draco decided to find out what was so terrifying. "Harry what is wrong? What are you so scared of?" 


	3. Marge

A/N: Sorry this took so long to post, I had it done Friday but I had a fieldtrip for the weekend and couldn't post till today. Just to make it up to you I am posting Chapter four as well but its really short.  
  
Chapter 3: Marge  
  
Disclaimer: see chapter 1  
  
A/N: to pi, you have a great point about Draco not accepting this right off the bat. At the moment, he's accepting it cause he's still in shock and needs Harrry's help to survive the Dursleys. It'll be harder once he gets to Hogwarts and has to face the fact he has to work for everything. Remember he's only known about this for three days now. He lost his parents(or what he thought was his parents) and was sent to a house where no one even pretends to care for him except Harry. Harry is the first person to accept him for who he is and care for him throwing him into more shock at the moment. Later when both boys get time to think I will reflect both their feelings about this but for now they are forced to stay together at all times for fear of the Dursleys throwing them out one at a time. It's a good point but Draco hasn't had much of a chance to think about it nor has Harry had the chance to think about Sirius a still rather fresh wound. I will add it in soon enough.  
  
"She's coming to visit. I can't believe my bad luck. She will be here for at least a week. And now you have to suffer her wrath as well." Harry spoke as if in denial of the truth.  
  
"Harry! Who is coming and what is so bad about this person?" Draco took Harry's upper arms and shook him.  
  
"Marge. Uncle Vernon's sister and her evil dog. Even Dudley doesn't like her. She spoils him and buys him everything while telling me to act more like him and how good a child he is compared to me and even he doesn't like her. He pretends because Uncle Vernon slips him money for it but he doesn't like her either. And that dog. It wants to eat me alive every time its here. Its treed me a few times. Its evil. Last time she came I accidentally inflated her because she said that dad was a worthless unemployed bum who got himself in a car accident because he had too much to drink. I hate her visits. I have to hide everything magical in my room while she's here and Hedwig has to spend the time at Ron's house. She's evil." Harry shook himself out of his daze.  
  
"We better get started if we want to finish by nightfall." Harry said as he looked at the garden. They began to mow the grass and line large rocks around where the plants would be. Planting the bushes and flowers was easy but planting the trees was a bit harder. After that was done they began to water the flowers and paint the fence. By the time the Dursley's were eating dinner the two boys were done and exhausted. They made their way upstairs and took their turns in the shower before grabbing a few peanut butter sandwiches from under the loose floorboard. After they ate they got ready for bed and Harry sent Hedwig to Ron's for the week.  
  
"Hey why don't we see if Remus can get us out of here by tomorrow?" Draco suggested picking up the mirror and calling for Remus.  
  
"Hi boys. You look exhausted, what have you been doing all day." Remus looked concerned.  
  
"Landscaping the garden." Harry answered simply.  
  
"Hey Remus can you get us out of here by tomorrow?" Draco asked the man who seemed to be distracted by something out of their view.  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Marge is coming. I told you what she's like last time." Harry said with a little bit of fear coloring his voice.  
  
"I'll try and get you out of there. You know its up to Dumbledore not me. I will talk to him about it and try and get you tomorrow morning. No guarantees." Remus looked at Harry and Draco one last time before closing the link to go talk to Dumbledore.  
  
"Let me tell you about the Order. Its full name is actually the Order of the Phoenix but most of the members just refer to it as the order. Its made up of Witches and Wizards that want to fight the reborn Voldemort. Much of Dumbledore's information comes from that order and they act when the ministry refuses to. Its also made up of people the ministry wouldn't trust for information. Snape and Lupin being the main ones of those and Mad-eye. The headquarters place though has this painting that screams every time someone makes a noise. The weasleys spend a lot of time there so it might be tense at first." Harry sat on the floor and told Draco what to expect if they didn't get out of the house by the time Marge arrived.  
  
"She sounds horrible. Hey Harry we better get to sleep if we want enough strength to deal with the relatives in the morning." Draco said gesturing to the clock which read 12:47.  
  
The boys fell into a heavy sleep only to be woken a few hours later by Tonks tripping over something and cursing at her luck.  
  
Harry pulled his glasses on. "What are you doing here? Did Dumbledore say yes?" he asked quietly.  
  
"No. I just brought you a lot of food because we won't be able to take you till July. Dumbledore says until he's sure Headquarters is safe after what Kretcher might have told Lucius we can't have you near. At least you are protected here. Well from Voldemort. I gotta get back now. Bye." She disapperated after setting a big box down.  
  
Harry peeked in the box. There was a note from Remus on top of a large amount of food. "I put a non perishing charm on the food so you could eat what you want. Don't tell molly I snuck in Junk food." Was all the note read. Harry grinned and moved the box into the closet before covering it with clothes. Harry crawled back in bed and slept till the alarm went off.  
  
Draco awoke to Harry shaking him. He had not heard the commotion the night before and yawned as he sat up. "Do you think they're going to pick us up today?" he asked as he slowly got dressed.  
  
"They're not. Tonks popped in last night and told me that after the house elf left to Lucius they don't know if Headquarters is safe enough for any kids to be there. We have to stick it out until July. Meaning we better be on our best behavior while Aunt Marge and Ripper are here. Oh, Tonks brought us some food as well. Its charmed to be non perishable so we can eat it any time. I must restate that we have to behave or they'll throw us in the cupboard under the stairs and we won't be able to eat the food up here."  
  
Harry took out some cheese cake and handed a piece to Draco. "Eat its going to be a long day."  
  
Harry and Draco began cooking breakfast before the Dursleys awoke that morning. Harry had the plates ready the moment the Dursleys entered the kitchen.  
  
"Uncle Vernon, can we have the time until Aunt Marge gets here to do our homework. We already finished the garden and we can do our other chores after she gets here but we really need to get our homework done." Harry looked at his uncle as if he actually respected the man. Truth was he just wanted time to prepare Draco for what was coming.  
  
"You can do your homework while Marge is here. She doesn't like to see you anyway so you'll have plenty of time to work on your homework then. I want this house clean by the time Marge gets here. Your aunt will be here at one." Vernon refused much to Harry's horror.  
  
"Yes, sir." Harry started to walk down the hall when he heard Vernon yell "and we'll be in town all morning so I expect it clean by the time we return with Marge."  
  
Harry could have danced with joy. He grabbed Draco and pulled him into the living room.  
  
"Do you know how to dust? Harry asked while handing Draco a rag.  
  
"No the houseelves used to always do that. I've never done any work for myself."  
  
"I'll show you." They had dusted half the living room by the time the Dursleys announced they were leaving. Vernon glared at the boys before slamming the door. Harry waited till he heard the car leave before taking out the mirror. "Remus." He stated and the werewolf appeared. "What's wrong?" he asked very much aware that Harry should be doing chores. "Can we get some help cleaning the house and maybe a few of the weasley twins pranks? If aunt marge is coming it will at least be a memorable visit. Most likely we're going to get locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the whole visit. Thus we need help preparing." "Be right over." Remus closed the link and Harry put the mirror away. "what was that about?" "We aren't allowed to use magic. Adults are. If we're going to be trapped in this house with aunt marge it had better have something to keep me calm." "Really. I always thought you were always calm and collected. You wouldn't think that the great Harry Potter would have a tantrum so big he would inflate his muggle aunt." "Shut up little brother." Harry was stopped from saying much else by the arrival of Remus and Tonks. "Hey so what do we need to help you with?" Tonks asked as she looked around the house. "Cleaning house and getting the cupboard under the stairs ready for when Marge is here. Marge thinks its bad enough that I get to see sunlight once in a while. If she had her way I would be living on the street or in the sewers. I can almost guarantee that we'll spend at least one night under the stairs during Marge's stay. It's a bit cramped for two." "I'll do that bit. Remus can clean." Tonks smiled at him and moved towards the stairs. Tonks looked into the cupboard. "They made you live their for ten years? They have been mistreating you. Well lets see what we can do." Tonks waved her wand and a trapdoor appeared. She reached out to open it and slipped through it. Suprisingly enough it led to an apartment like area. It had a kitchenette, a bathroom, two bed rooms, a stereo with chairs to sit around a fire place. It was quite amazing. "This is a neat little place that my mother showed me. Its an apartment where time moves slower and no one but those who know how can enter. Come on lets get out of here." Tonks led him up the ladder and as soon as he stepped out the trapdoor disappeared. "How are we supposed to get into the place if the trapdoor disappeared?" Harry exclaimed. "Keep your pants on. Look these necklaces belonged to Sirius and myself. It was in his will that his went to you and I am willingly giving mine to you because you and Draco need it more. I also think that it would be better if you have it because I don't use it all that often." Tonks handed Harry two chains with the weirdest pendant he had ever seen. It was a skeleton key with a clear blue rock at the end of it. If you looked close enough you could make out a little room with a fireplace and chairs. The other pendant was the same exept the stone was red. "How do they work?" Harry asked as he turned placed the blue locket around his neck. "The wearer has to state the password while thinking of the little apartment. The password right now is penut butter but that was Sirius' choice. You want to change it?" Harry could see the tears she was holding back st the thought of Sirius. "No. That password works good." Harry caught himself thinking of Sirius again and quickly turned to another subject. "Can other people come in if I want them to?" Harry was trying to keep his thoughts from straying back to Sirius. "Yes. As you saw it creates a trap door or a door depending on where you are and it disappears once the wearer walks through it. If you send your companion in first they can join you." ****Meanwhile**** Remus was using his wand to clean the Dursleys house which wasn't all that dirty. "So Draco how are you reacting to all of this? You moved from one family that treats you bad to another one that is almost as bad. You just found out the guy you have this rivalry with is your brother. Its got to be hard. Probably harder than my accepting I'm a werewolf." "I haven't had much of a chance to think about it. I think I'm still in shock about my parents or well my adopted parents finally being out of my life." "True enough. If I'm right you'll have more time to think when we leave. So do you want to talk about the changes and what we can do to help you adjust." "I don't think anything will help me adjust. It'll take time to get used to everything but that's all. Harry may have been my rival in the past but now I don't know. He's been so accepting of this and I don't know how he can just accept me after what I have done to him the past five years." "Harry can forgive people. It was a trait Lily had. No matter how mad a person made her she would forgive them. Harry forgave Sirius for switching secret keepers. There are some things he can't forgive though. Voldemort, Pettigrew, and Sirius' cousin who killed him. Most of all though he has a problem forgiving himself. Maybe he can help you accept this change and you can help him through Sirius' death and the guilt he feels about it." "Maybe." They finished the rest of the work quietly. All the work was done by the ten and Harry and Draco were stocked with Weasley Wizard Weezes. Tonks and Remus left. They were quickly becoming like Harry and Draco's adoptive parents. "Harry if you need one of us to talk to tell Remus and we can meet you in the secret place. I have one more necklace. It was my mothers. Take care both of you." Tonks smiled and disapperated. Remus waved and followed suit. "So what's this special place she speaks of?" Draco asked looking at his brother. The talk with Remus helped him understand more about Harry and he wanted to have a nice long talk with Harry about the last term of school. "I'll show you." Harry concentrated hard and stated "penut butter". A door appeared in the wall next to them. Harry opened the door and gestured for Draco to go in. Draco walked in followed by Harry who sealed the door. "This is amazing!" Draco exclaimed as he looked around. Harry handed him the blue necklace and explained how to open the place. "Time goes slower in here. One hour here is the same as one minute in the real world. I explored part of it earlier but from what I saw there are two bedrooms, a kitchen with a fridge that never empties, a bathroom, a library filled with books like the Hogwarts library and of coarse the sitting area you see before you." Harry sat on one of the chairs. Draco sat across from him and thought about how to bring up Harry's godfather without bringing too much grief to the surface. He couldn't think of one. "Hey Harry. Who is this Sirius character Remus was talking about?" Harry immediately felt the grief and the guilt come up. "My godfather. Sirius Black and James Potter were the best of friends throughout school. Sirius was framed for murder and spent 12 years in a wizarding prison before escaping to save me. He has protected me and kept in contact for 2 years now until..." Harry broke off. He wouldn't cry. He swore to himself that he wouldn't cry in front of others. Everyone expected him to be the couragous Harry Potter afraid of nothing and loyal to the very end. He couldn't cry. Draco watched Harry's battle for control. Maybe if he shared some of his experience with the malfoys Harry would feel more confortable with emotions around him. "You know, I thought that I had it good living with the Malfoys. I had a ruthless father but he was rich. I never had to do anything for myself. Most of my grades could be bought. I always had the best of everything. I thought that all parents hurt their children as much as I was hurt. Then I got into Hogwarts. I saw that other students had no fear of doing bad in school and had no fear of going home on break. I saw everyone else had friends that cared what happened to them. When I went home that first summer, father was angry. He said I didn't act ruthless enough to be a malfoy. He said that I should have been hexing every mudblood on sight and not talking to anyone in the other houses. He told me I shouldn't have spoken even a word to you and should have just cursed you into oblivion. That's when I made a mistake. I asked him why. Why I couldn't do what I wanted while I was at school. I was hurt so bad that I was incapacitated for a week. I didn't say a word all summer. I was punished when I didn't answer correctly or if I didn't answer at all. Then people began suspecting me in second year. I was heart broke on the inside that they would suspect me. Even my own goons thought that I was the one opening it. I never did find out who opened it." "Ginny Weasley had opened it. I know I opened it once as well. Your "father" had given Ginny a diary that had belonged to Voldemort in the past. It took a hold of her and forced her to open the chamber. I almost died that day." "What year didn't you almost die in?" "Shut up." They talked for a bit about what life was like. Draco was about to bring Sirius up again when Harry decided they had best eat and get back into the Dursleys living room. While they ate Harry asked Draco what he planned to do when he got back to Hogwarts. "What do you mean?" Draco asked looking at his older brother curiously. "I mean are you going to stay Draco Malfoy, enroll as Draco Potter, change houses. The Slytherin's won't accept you once they find out you're my twin brother. So my question is what are you going to do?" "Probably try and change houses. I'm going to enroll as Potter because I don't want to be known as a Malfoy and I no longer look like a Malfoy so lets just worry about the changing houses." "What house do you think you'll be in if you're resorted?" "The sorting hat told me I'd do well in the house of my parents and then put me in Slytherin after much arguing in my head. It knew all along that I was a potter. I figure it will put me in Gryffindor with you." "The sorting hat is smart." Harry looked at his watch. "We'd better get back. Aunt Marge will be here in an hour and we still have to de-magic our room." Harry opened the door and followed Draco out. The boys made their way upstairs to their bedroom. Harry began taking down everything off his wall. Books were hidden in the closent and parchment put away. Pictures were put in his school trunk with his broom and servicing kit. Draco rolled up posters of Quidditch teams and folded his invisibility cloak shoving it in his trunk with his books and sneakascope that he had been forced to disable due to his constant deception. The boys finished leaving only a dogeared muggle book and Harry's countdown calander on the wall. The beds were made, all signs that magic existed in this room hidden from sight. By the time they were done and had had a shower, changed into clean clothes, and went downstairs, Marge had arrived. "Oh Dudly you look so grown up. You look just like your father. I always knew you'd turn out right. Now this one," Marge said as she glared at Harry not even noticing Draco yet. "He could use a good beating and some lessons from you." Marge said shoving her bag at Harry. Harry gasped as the air got knocked out of him. Marge ignored it having just noticed Draco. "Well hello. Are you one of Dudly's friends?" Marge just assumed as Harry had no friends near Privot Drive and Draco was dressed in better clothes than Harry's usual huge clothes. Harry was dressed in better clothes as well but Marge could care less. "No ma'am. My name is Draco Mal- I mean Potter. I'm Harry's twin brother." Draco smirked at her shocked expression. "There's two of you? Vernon how on earth could you accept to raise another one? That worthless bum Potter must have not wanted him so why on earth would you?" "Dad did want Draco! It wasn't his fault that he was sent to live with someone else." Harry was unable to keep from defending his only brother. Marge looked at Harry. "Vernon I don't want to see this dilinquent again. As for the other one. If you got stuck with him he's probably just as bad as the first. Petunia your sister never should have had any kids. They are all disrespectful and dilinquent." Harry was seething. He knew it would be like this the whole week but for it to be this hard to keep his mouth shut so soon during the visit showed how hard a week it would be. Draco looked at this overgrown woman who had just called him a dilinquent. No one called him a dilinquent. This meant war. Her last statement just made her the official target for the Weasley's jokes. No wonder Harry never wanted to come home. Just then a small dog came through the door and growled at Harry. Harry glared at the dog and growled right back. He wasn't going to let Ripper get him treed again. Before he was completely terrified of the little dog but now he just ignored most of its growling. Draco looked at the little dog. It looked vicious. Draco backed away as it growled. To say he was shocked when Harry growled right back showed that he was used to the dog trying to scare him. "To your rooms now. I don't want to see you again until tomorrow morning." Vernon was turning purple with anger. "Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry said before pushing Draco in front of him towards their room. It was going to be a long week. 


	4. Decleration of War

A/N: Its short but it creates a plot. Thus it makes a good enough chapter for now.  
  
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
  
Chapter 4: Declaration of War Draco let Harry lead him up the stairs. It was shocking to meet such a horrible person. To think that Draco was shocked at how horrible she was, was nothing short of amazing. This was the boy who grew up with the Malfoys. That was saying something. "We can take turns resting and eating. We have to take turns because I'm positive that Vernon will come up and lecture us for an hour. You can have first resting and eating break. I'll get you out in an hour unless Vernon comes up." Harry said as he sat on the bed. "Ok. Let me get my school books so I can do my homework while I'm at it." Draco took out his books and opened the door to the apartment. Harry sat their now with his thoughts to himself. It was the first time he had had a chance to think since Draco had gotten there. Draco. Harry had never thought he'd have a brother and the thought that his arch enemy was his twin certainly never crossed his mind. Harry's thoughts moved to what his parents would think if they saw the two of them now. Would they approve of the people they had become? Would they be happy that their sons had reunited? Harry's thoughts were interupted when an owl flew through the window. Sure that Uncle Vernon had seen the owl he quickly opened the door to the secret place. "Draco come out. An owls arrived for us. Its sure to draw attention." Draco appeared looking refreshed. When the had both exited the little place, Harry took the letter attached to the owls leg. Three actually. Two of the envelopes had seals that looked unfamiliar to Harry. The other was from Hogwarts. "Who do you think this one's from?" Draco asked as he took the one addressed to Draco Malfoy. "Its not from Hogwarts. They all know of your change in name." Harry opened his from the unknown place. To Mr. H Potter, We have concluded grading your owl exams and they are as thus: Transfiguration:O Charms:E Potions:O Diviation:P History of Magic:P Defense Against the Dark Arts:O* Care of Magical Creatures:A Astronomy:N Herbology:O The scoring is as follows: O-"Outstanding" E-"Exceeds Expectations" A-"Acceptable" N-"Needs Improvement" P-"Poor" An "A" counts as one owl. "E" one and a half, "O" counts as two. Your OWL count is 8 ½ *Congradulations on your Patronus. That makes your score the highest ever. Harry looked up at his twin brother. "How did you do?" he asked as Draco looked up. Draco handed him his paper. To Mr. D Malfoy, We have concluded grading your owl exams and they are as thus: Transfiguration:A Charms:N Potions:O History of Magic:P Defense Against the Dark Arts:E Care of Magical Creatures:P Astronomy:A Herbology:O Your OWL count is 7 ½ "Pretty good little brother but I beat you." Draco glared at him. "So if this is our scores what is the other letter?" Harry was about to open it when he heard the pounding footsteps of his uncle. He quickly shoved the unopened letter into his desk drawer and stood there looking at his owl results. Vernon opened the door. "What is the meaning of this? Owls swooping aroung the house while Marge is here." "It was just delivering our test results Uncle Vernon. We reall y didn't know the results would come today." Harry told his Uncle afraid his uncle would tear up his results. "Let me see those results." Vernon said as he held out his hand. Both boys slowly placed the results in his hand. "Are these good marks?" Vernon asked as he looked at the scores. "Average sir." "Well now that you've seen them you have no more need of them." Vernon proceeded to rip up their scores and throw them on the floor. He stomped out of the room. Harry stared dumbstruck at the pile of paper that had been their owl results. He picked them up and put them in the desk drawer so that Remus could fix them later. This was a decleration of war. "Ready for the biggest battle of your life brother." "Ready." The boys began planning their next move. They would need every single one of the Weasley twins pranks to win this war but it would be well worth it. 


	5. Pranks and Friends

Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, its not mine.  
  
Chapter 5: Pranks and friends  
  
Harry and Draco inventoried their pranks. A lot of them couldn't be used on the Dursleys due to the amount of magic in them. The boys weren't looking to expose themselves to other muggles just get revenge on the Dursleys.  
  
"I say we slip one of these Skiving snacks in their food. The effects wear off after a few days without the antidote so it won't do great harm to them but it will make them miserable. What do you think?" Draco asked as they planned their first attack.  
  
"Good idea. They won't know it's our fault they are sick. So which ones should we use?"  
  
The boys planned until it was time for the Dursleys to go to sleep. They had pranks and tricks planned for the next few days. The boys waited until they could hear the Dursleys snoring before opening the door to the secret apartment. The boys took showers and got ready for bed. Draco decided to try and get Harry to tell him what was depressing him.  
  
"Harry, I've noticed you've been a bit quieter than you used to be. Why? Draco decided to try this approach to get him to talk.  
  
Harry hesitated. "My Godfather, the one person who really cared for me left in the "family" died last term. It is my fault he's dead. If I would have listened to Snape's lessons he wouldn't be dead." Harry looked at the floor before standing and moving towards his room.  
  
"Whoa whoa. Wait a second. Lets start from the beginning. What lessons were you taking from Snape and why would that have helped?"  
  
"I was learning how to block Voldemort from my mind. I was stupid though and decided not to care. I hated Snape too much to pay attention and I found out things I should have never known. He stopped my lessons because of it. If I would have been respectful and paid attention Voldemort wouldn't have been able to trick me. Its my fault Sirius went to the Department of Mysteries. Then he fell through the veil because he was protecting me. Its my fault he's dead, its my fault our parents are dead, its my fault Pettigrew is with Voldemort, its my fault that Voldemort is back. I have caused havoc all my life and now it hits me straight on. And now you have to suffer the Dursleys with me." Harry walked into his room and shut the door. Draco watched his older brother leave.  
  
Poor kid. My brother really thinks he caused all this mess? I need to figure out how to convince him otherwise. Draco thought as he climbed into bed. Draco couldn't sleep though. Too much had happened.  
  
Harry really seems to care about me. Its weird that he cares. No one has ever cared. No that's not true. Dumbledore seemed to always be watching me. I guess I know why now. The home life isn't much of an improvement but at least I have someone who cares.  
  
Will Harry's friends accept that I've changed? Especially the Mudblood, no wait that's not her name. How many times have I called her that? I can't call her Granger either that's rude. What was her first name again? Her- Her—Hermione that's it. And the Weasley kid...Ron I think. And that red head that has a crush on Harry... what is her name. I guess I'll have to learn the whole lot of them's name. I wonder what it will be like this year at school. It will be harder because I have to try hard to get good grades. Snape might not favor me anymore.  
  
I wonder what my new Dorm mates reaction to me will be. Will they give me the cold shoulder? Will they be able to make the connection between my two personalities?  
  
Draco finally fell into a dream filled sleep. Thoughts of school chased out of his head by pleasant dreams.  
  
After a nice rest the boys played a few games of exploding snap, Chess, and doing a bit of homework, the boys ate a good breakfast.  
  
Conversation was light and cheerful as they finished their plans for the Dursleys. The boys showered and dressed before re-emerging into their room. It was only 10:30. Not even a minute had passed. Harry was shocked for a moment.  
  
"So what do we do now?" Harry asked his younger brother.  
  
"We never read that other letter that came with our OWL results." Draco took the letter out of the drawer. He opened the letter quickly and read it out loud.  
  
Boys,  
  
Don't get too exited now but I have found a new place where we will have Order Headquarters. I will be over to pick you up in two days. I have much I wish to discuss with you and I will do so then. I shall see you day after tomorrow.  
  
Albus Dumbledore  
  
The two boys looked at each other then smiled. They could play their pranks and then leave to the new Headquarters building.  
  
After a few minutes of wondering what to do, they decided to get some more sleep.  
  
Draco was the first to put one of their pranks in action. He dropped a Canary Cream in front of Dudley's door and made his way down to breakfast where Harry was carefully slipping the Skiving Snacks onto the plates. Harry made sure to trash the antidote piece before the Dursleys spotted the odd candy.  
  
Harry and Draco set the plates on the table before beginning to wash dishes. Harry started snickering at the loud squawk that issued from upstairs.  
  
The boys were almost finished with the dishes when the Dursleys came down. Dudly immediately forgot about the Canary incident at the sight of food.  
  
As the Dursleys begin eating Harry and Draco move on to other chores listening for the sounds of the sick Dursleys.  
  
The Dursleys soon retire to bed to "fight" the illness unaware that there is no cure but time.  
  
The boys snicker before turning on the TV downstairs.  
  
"What are we going to do with our few days of freedom?"  
  
"Not sure. We've finished the majority of our homework, I'm bored with wizard chess, what else do you have to do in here?" Draco asked as he looked around the spotless living room.  
  
"Boy get in here!" Vernon yelled from his room.  
  
"Coming Uncle Vernon!" Harry yelled back. "There are a bunch of cool games in Dudley's room. Go look in there. He won't be up to fighting you over them." Harry whispered to Draco before heading to meet his Uncle.  
  
Harry knocked on the door. "Boy! I want you to walk to the store and get some orange juice and crackers." Vernon yelled through the door.  
  
"Yes sir." Harry smiled. This was the chance for Harry and Draco to explore the neighborhood. Harry grabbed Draco on the way out of the house and hurried to the store. After buying the neccisary items they walked to the park. It was a nice day and a bunch of teens were sitting under a large tree relaxing.  
  
"You think they will talk to us?" Draco asked.  
  
"They aren't Dudley's friends so its worth a shot."  
  
Harry and Draco headed over to the group. "Hey everybody." Harry greeted.  
  
"Hi." A perky girl spoke up. She looked like she was 10 or 11 and did not really fit in with the group. "My name is Melissa. What are your names?"  
  
Draco grinned at the girl and responded for both. "I'm Draco and this is my twin brother Harry." This was the first time he had said it out loud and it felt good.  
  
"Let me introduce everyone." Melissa said as she looked at the people around her. "That guy over there asleep against the tree is my brother Tom." Melissa pointed to a boy about Harry and Draco's age with light brown hair leaning against the tree.  
  
"That is Judy, she's his girlfriend." She waved at a girl with red hair and moved on to a pretty girl about the boys age with jet black hair and beautiful green eyes. "That is Celene, she's my older sister. And that guy over there the one with the dark brown hair is Chris. He's Tom's friend. Everybody this is Draco and Harry."  
  
Harry smiled at everyone before elbowing his brother who was staring at Celene.  
  
"I've never seen you around here." Judy commented as she joined the group away from Tom.  
  
"Yeah, it's a long story but Draco just moved here and well we live with my cousin Dudly and if you've met him you'd know why you haven't seen much of me. I've been going to a boarding school type thing for a while now so you wouldn't see me much."  
  
"I saw you once. You had a magic wand. Are you going to Hogwarts?" Melissa asked as recognition filled her eyes.  
  
"how do you know about Hogwarts?" Draco asked startled that a muggle would know of it.  
  
"I got a letter today telling me I have been accepted into the school but I'm not sure about it. Is it fun there?" She seemed a bit scared.  
  
"I wouldn't know, I never had a chance to enjoy it. Maybe we could tell you our story." Draco seemed to sulk at the thought of his past years in Hogwarts.  
  
Draco quickly explained their story and then Harry went into details about what Hogwarts was like. Soon enough an hour had passed then two. Harry glanced at his watch.  
  
"Draco he's going to kill us! We have to go guys. How about we meet you here tomorrow?"  
  
"Ok. How bout at noon?" Tom suggested having woke when Melissa had asked about Hogwarts.  
  
"Ok. See you guys then. Bye." Harry grabbed their bag and ran the rest of the way home.  
  
After a ten minute fit from Vernon Harry decided to ask Draco if they should show the group the little apartment.  
  
"I think so. We would have something like a few days with them in an hour. It's a new thing to me to have friends."  
  
"Ok." The boys spent the rest of the day planning what they would do with their friends completely forgetting that they would be rescued from the Dursleys the next day.  
  
A/N: that was long. I think it was long anyway. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed. 


	6. Caught

Brothers Chapter 6: Caught  
  
Draco and Harry finished their chores quickly and slipped out of the house by 11:30. They quickly made their way to the park to meet their new friends.  
  
They made it just as the group got there as well. It was one of those odd coincidences that happen all the time. The boys had decided that morning that they would take the group to the apartment so they could spend more time with them.  
  
"Hey we want to show you guys something." Draco said as he waved to the group.  
  
The group looked at him and shrugged.  
  
"Follow us." Harry said as he began to lead the way to an alley.  
  
The group arrived at the alley and looked around. "There is nothing cool about this place." Tom stated simply.  
  
"Yet. You know how we are magical? Well," Draco closed his eyes and muttered the password.  
  
"Our own secret place. Time travels slower inside. One minute outside is the same as one hour inside."  
  
"This way we can spend a bit more time with each other." Harry commented.  
  
Harry opened the door and ushered the others in closing the door after the last person was in.  
  
"Welcome to our home. If you are hungry there is a fully stocked kitchen over there, there is a library off to that side, a sitting room is through the right hand door and the other two rooms are our bedrooms. Make yourselves at home." Draco pointed everything out before heading to the sitting room.  
  
"Anyone up for a game of exploding snap?" Harry asked.  
  
The group was having such a good time that they failed to notice the man enter the room. "Just what possessed you two to leave the house when you are perfectly aware that the most evil person on the planet is out to kill you!"  
  
Everyone jumped at the shout from the door. Harry and Draco turned and lost all color on their face.  
  
"Do you know how worried we were when you weren't in the Dursleys house? Dumbledore is ticked at you two and you had better have a good excuse for leaving the one place you are protected besides Hogwarts. Both of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Causing everyone this much worry. I promised Sirius that if anything ever happened to him I would watch over you and what do you do you delibratly disobey the strict orders you were given. You know an order member is supposed to know where you are at all times!" Remus stopped for a breath.  
  
"And then you gave your family Skiving Snack boxes! You're lucky the ministry didn't find out."  
  
"Hey we had good reason for that! Marge said Draco wasn't wanted and that we were both delinquent children. And then Uncle Vernon ripped up our OWL results. That was the best grade I had ever gotten and he ripped it up." Harry refused to go down without a fight.  
  
Someone cleared their throat. "Excuse us but we best be leaving." Judy said before slipping out of the room with the others. Mellisa stayed behind.  
  
"I'm sorry about the outburst but do you know how worried I was. I've lost almost everyone I care about and I didn't want to lose you two as well." Remus sat down in one of the chairs. It wasn't until then that he noticed the young girl staring at him.  
  
"Oh hi. I hope I didn't frighten you. I'm sort of these two's guardian." Remus sounded as nice as usual.  
  
The boys looked shamed. Finally Draco spoke. "These were the first friends I've ever had. They didn't care about who my parents were or what my bloodline was. They accepted me. I just wanted to see them again." Draco said this so quietly that it didn't seem like he meant for anyone to hear it.  
  
Remus heard it anyway. "Look Draco, I don't mean to sound harsh but you two boys are the only link I still have to my friends. Peter is still alive but he betrayed us too badly. James is dead, and Sirius is dead as well now so you are all I have left. Its bad enough I'm not allowed to care for you myself but I have to have knowledge of when you are mistreated. When you show up missing when I do come to pick you up it unsettles me."  
  
Draco still seemed sad.  
  
"You will make more friends now that you can be yourself. Remus stood up. "Lets get you guys back so you can pack. You'll be at the new Headquarters for the rest of the summer."  
  
"Alright. Look forward to seeing you on the train the first of September Mellisa. You can join us for the ride." Draco offered a bit cheerier knowing that one of their new friends would be going to Hogwarts. 


	7. Dumbledore's talk

Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
A/N: Here ya go. It explains all. (or most of the questions that must be going through your minds.)  
  
Chapter 7: Dumbledore's talk  
  
The boys got back to the house only to discover that half the order was there. The Dursleys were furious and completely healthy. Everyone was quiet when Remus walked in with the boys.  
  
Moody stopped in mid threat to the Dursleys about pushing the boys to do stupid things with their treatment of them.  
  
Harry looked around in horror at the number of people they had upset. He hadn't realized so many people cared about his safety and well being.  
  
Draco on the other hand was shocked at the people who were in the house. He recognized a few of them but most he did not even know. Who were these people?  
  
Dumbledore came down the stairs and Harry aimed his gaze at the floor unable to meet the old man's eyes. He had broken the man's trust in him. He couldn't look him in the eye. Not even when he had yelled at him for everything did he feel this bad. Then he had dragged his younger brother into it. He had endangered not only himself by this decision but his twin brother as well.  
  
Draco saw Harry's eyes focus on the floor. He wondered why he would do such a thing until he himself looked into the old wizards eyes. He saw extreme disappointment in the man's eyes and it made him ashamed. There wasn't any anger, or the usual twinkle; his eyes were just dull with disappointment in them.  
  
"Come, you need to pack your things." Was all Dumbledore said. The boys trudged upstairs without a word. They were not happy to be leaving the Dursleys anymore. Putting up with Aunt Marge would be better than leaving right now. Knowing that their fate would be to face Dumbledore and his disappointment in them.  
  
Harry grabbed the pieces of the letters from the drawer and put them in an envelope so that someone could try and fix them later. They packed quickly and dragged their trunks downstairs.  
  
Kingsley shrunk their trunks and put them in his pocket before apperating away. Harry turned to his angry family and waved to be polite. Aunt Marge had this look of utter shock on her face while Dudley looked completely terrified.  
  
Dumbledore handed them a portkey and not a minute later they disappeared.  
  
The boys arrived in what seemed to be an old castle. It was made of stone but enchanted to be warm. It was smaller than Hogwarts but still quite large.  
  
Draco looked around at the place amazed. Harry was too busy staring at all the Order members walking around. There were more than there used to be.  
  
Dumbledore soon appeared in the middle of the hustle and bustle.  
  
"I'll show you two to your rooms or did you want to share a room?" Dumbledore looked led them down a hall as he asked this.  
  
"Can we share a room?" It was Draco that thought this would be better.  
  
"Sure." Dumbledore opened the door to one of the rooms to reveal the largest room Harry had ever stayed in. The room was shaped as if it was two rooms but was missing the wall that would have gone in between. One bed was dark blue and the other red. Harry looked on in awe as he noticed two phoenixes sitting one on each side of the room.  
  
"The phoenixes are a gift for each of you from the order. As your birthday is coming up we thought they would make a great gift." Dumbledore explained as he gestured towards the birds.  
  
"They don't have a name right now. You will have to give them one. I will need to talk to you boys before dinner. Unpack your things and come see me before dinner. We really need to talk." Dumbledore left them to unpack their things.  
  
They unpacked silent at first. Draco finally broke the silence. "Do you think he's angry?"  
  
"No. I've seen him angry. He's not angry, just disappointed. I think that is worse though." Harry remembered the anger and power that had radiated from Dumbledore in fourth year.  
  
"Are you going to ask him if you can change houses and be enrolled under Potter?" Harry changed the subject.  
  
"Maybe. I might not. I think now would not be the best time to be asking for favors."  
  
They finished unpacking and began to think of names for their birds. Harry's was Red and Silver as opposed to red and gold like Fawkes. Draco had chosen the other who would have been identical to Fawkes if he hadn't had the white edge on his tail feathers.  
  
The boys took a few minutes to think of names for their birds. Harry had decided to name his Zeus after the Greek god.  
  
Draco thought a little harder and named his bird. Soon they made their way out of the room. As soon as they were out the door they were lost. They didn't know where they were supposed to meet Dumbledore.  
  
Luckily Mad-eye Moody was just passing. "Sir, where can we find Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked the old aurour.  
  
"Follow me Potter, Potter." Harry and Draco followed Mad-eye down the corridor turning every now and then till they came to a study. Harry knocked lightly and opened the door at the soft "come in" he heard.  
  
Draco shut the door behind him. "Sit down, dinner will start in a little bit." Dumbledore gestured to a stuffed sofa before sitting across from them in an armchair.  
  
"So how has your summer been this far?" Dumbledore asked as if the events of earlier in the day had never happened.  
  
"Strange. It has taken some time to get used to having a brother and well Sirius is gone. It's been a time to adjust." Harry answered for his part. He found it easier to talk about Sirius now that Draco had forced his feelings into the light.  
  
"It's been..."Draco shrugged.  
  
Dumbledore understood perfectly. "Now about your sixth year in Hogwarts. There will be many changes this year. Now that the ministry has accepted Voldemort's return the school will no longer be their main concern."  
  
"That's good to hear Professor." Harry said shuddering at the thought of another Umbridge.  
  
"First things first, Hagrid will no longer be teaching Care of Magical Creatures-"  
  
"But that's what he loves doing so much! You can't make him stop!" Harry was outraged.  
  
"Calm down Harry. Hagrid suggested this himself. He will be busy talking to the giants, taking care of Grawp, and being a messenger to Beauxbatons. Now on another note there will be two resident aurors throughout the year as well as three members of the order that will rotate their schedule to help guard the school. There will also be a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I think I know who will be taking over that position but I have to confirm it with her. Now then as you have not had the normal post, I have your Hogwarts letters for this year. Your owl results are repaired and on your beds. We can discuss your classes later. As for the matter with Draco, we must decide what to do with you."  
  
"I want to switch houses if that's possible and enroll under Potter. I want nothing to do with the name Malfoy any more."  
  
"You know this will lose you the spot on the Quidditch team and your prefect position?"  
  
"Yes. Lucius bought both those positions and I want nothing to do with them."  
  
"Alright then, on the first of September you will wait at the front of the Great Hall with the first years to be sorted. Since I mentioned Quidditch I should tell you Harry, that all decrees made by Dolores Umbridge have been made void. Your Quidditch ban has been lifted and all clubs may continue as they would before she came along. Will you be continuing the DA?"  
  
"Let me talk it over with Ron and Hermione. I probably will because it helped us with the OWLS last year and it is a great study group."  
  
"If you should choose to keep it a secret we will make an official Rule book and there will be a signed pledge that one will never betray the society. We do not want Voldemort hearing of what you are learning on your own."  
  
"Yes sir. I'll ask Hermione what she thinks. She's usually the one who sees things from the objective point of view." Harry hadn't thought about what he would do with the DA too much over the summer. Too many other things had been important.  
  
Draco remembered turning the DA members in one day last year. "This time brother I will be a part of your society instead of the one looking to tear it apart." Draco patted Harry's back happy that Harry had other things to think of now that all decrees were void.  
  
"I have two more things I need to discuss with you. One of them is why exactly we needed you two separated at birth, the other was what your future careers might be and what classes you will be taking this year."  
  
Draco seemed interested in the reason that he was separated from his twin brother at birth.  
  
"First you have to understand what a real prophecy is. A prophecy is usually stated by more than one seer and deals with something drastic that will happen. Many prophecies can change the fate of many lives and as such are kept secret. Only a few actually know these prophecies and that is why so few work in the Department of Mysteries. You see there was once a prophecy about the blood of the Hogwarts three destroying the bloodline of the fourth. The prophecy also spoke about their being two of the Hogwarts three's blood doing so. Your father and his brother had that blood so we thought they would fulfill the prophecy. Then your Uncle was killed before he could even come to Hogwarts so we lost hope. Then you were born. We knew that you would be the ones to fulfill the prophecy and save the world. We separated you in hopes that Voldemort who knew the prophecy would not know that you would destroy him. He killed your father and had moved to kill you when your mother sacrificed herself for you Harry. Everyone thought he was just trying to kill your family because they wouldn't join him but it wasn't true. In truth you and your brother are the only ones who can save the world."  
  
Harry sat stunned. Draco seemed to be thinking about what had happened. "Do you think we can win?" he finally asked.  
  
"Yes. I have no doubt that you can defeat the Dark Lord. All it takes is a little practice. Together he can't beat you but if you are separate he can."  
  
"So if he catches us apart we might die but if we are together then we'll be fine."  
  
"Not exactly, if the two of you are apart and he happens to come across one of you, you will still be able to survive but you have a greater chance of getting hurt or even killed. If he finds you when you are together, you are more likely to survive any attack he may throw at you." Dumbledore explained a little better.  
  
"Oh, I think I get it. We have no chance of beating him alone. Ok so what about the other things you wanted to talk about?" Harry decided to change the subject.  
  
"Ah yes your classes for the next year. As I understand it, neither of you had truthful career advice. Harry we can start with your career choice. I believe professor McGonagall said you wanted to be an auror. Do you have your owl results with you?"  
  
"Yes sir." Harry handed his results to the old man.  
  
Dumbledore looked over them quickly. "Seems like you have the grades to take all the classes you need. Would you like me to sign you up for the necessary classes?"  
  
"That would be nice sir."  
  
"And you Draco? What does your goal consist of?"  
  
"I don't know. I've never thought about what I really wanted out of life. Can I have some time to think about it?"  
  
"Of coarse you can. Tell me when you are ready to decide. That's all for right now boys. I suggest you get you homework done; Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall will be here tomorrow. I have a meeting of the whole order and then I wish to see you again to explain a few more things. The Weasleys and Hermione will be here in the morning so you best get some sleep after dinner."  
  
Dumbledore led the boys to the door and called someone to lead them back to their room. After they had washed and dressed in clean clothes they made their way to the dinning room following the smell all the way there.  
  
Harry was almost knocked over as he entered the dinning room by a rather happy house elf.  
  
"Mr. Harry Potter, sir. Its so good to see you sir." Dobby pulled back a little, "Sir is too skinny, sir must eat lots." Dobby turned his attention to Draco. "Who is Harry Potter's friend?" Dobby looked at Draco but the question was directed to Harry.  
  
"This is my brother Draco, Dobby. Draco you know Dobby." Draco stared at the elf that had once served the Malfoy family. "Nice to meet you Dobby." Draco stated as he looked around.  
  
"You is much to skinny too. Sit over here and we will make you less skinny." Dobby said as he pulled them to the table already lined with Order members.  
  
"Hiya Harry. I'm sorry I wasn't able to help rescue you but I had to be at work today. So how has your summer been?" Tonks asked as she filled her plate with the food that was being passed down.  
  
"Good." Harry answered as he began to feed himself quickly.  
  
Draco smiled at the shocked looks they were getting for eating so fast. This was the first proper meal they had had since Hogwarts. Well for Draco, Harry hadn't eaten much since Sirius' death.  
  
Remus, who was sitting next to Harry, managed to get the plate out from under Harry receiving a death glare from the boy.  
  
"I know you're hungry but you'll get sick eating that fast." Remus chuckled at the dumbfounded look Harry shot him. "You do need to breath every once in a while as well."  
  
Harry grabbed for his plate but Remus moved it. Draco almost invisibly slid his plate toward Harry who quickly ate the rest off it.  
  
Remus chuckled and shook his head. They weren't going to feel good tonight.  
  
A/N: That was long. It didn't seem that long when I typed it. Oh well. Sorry for the delay, I had school and the teacher wouldn't let me go to the computer lab. Sigh the injustice of high school. Anywhoo. I just need a little more on Chapter 8 to be done with it so until then ta ta. Note: next chapter will have Ron and Hermione's reactions to the situation. 


	8. Hermione and Ron

Chapter 8: Hermione and Ron  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
A/N: sorry this took so long, I've been busy. I had it written but I never could find time to type it. Now that I'm at home sick I have plenty of time. So on with the story.  
  
"Harry! Wake up mate! Its almost noon." Harry heard the voice call from the other side of the door.  
  
"I'm up!" he yelled toward the door. The knob turned and the door opened. Ron came in and looked around. His face became confused as he spotted the second bed with the sleeping form still in it.  
  
"This place is huge! Why on earth are you sharing a room?" Ron continued to talk very loud.  
  
Draco groaned from his bed.  
  
"Keep it down, Ron. My brother is still asleep. He's already going to be freaked you're in here anyway. Let me wake him up and then we can continue this conversation." Harry moved to hit Draco with his pillow.  
  
Draco blocked the pillow and tackled his older brother. "Trying to deprive me of my beauty sleep?" Draco asked as he let his brother up.  
  
"Hate to break it to you brother but all the beauty sleep in the world won't make you look any better." Harry ducked the pillow that was thrown at him.  
  
"Brother? But Harry you're an only child." Ron was beyond confused.  
  
"So was I." Draco mumbled from where he was getting dressed.  
  
"It's a long story, Ron, and I don't want to have to go through it twice so I'll tell you at breakfast...er...lunch." Harry attempted to comb his hair.  
  
"Give it up, brother. It won't stay down." Draco stated as he grabbed Harry and dragged him down for lunch.  
  
*************** ********************* ************************ ************* "Harry!" the yell startled Harry as the breath was knocked out of him by a hug.  
  
"Hi, Mione." Harry gasped. She let go and looked at the boy she didn't know. "Who are you?" she asked kindly.  
  
"Harry's twin brother." Draco supplied, Hermione gasped at the voice. It sounded like...  
  
"Draco you've met Hermione before right? Well this time it's a proper meeting." Harry grinned.  
  
"Draco? Harry the only Draco I've met was..."  
  
"Draco Malfoy Yeah I was an ass then. Sorry about the rude remarks and the cruel names. I was sort of forced to do such. Turns out I'm not actually a Malfoy, but a Potter. It explains why I always felt bad calling you such cruel names." Draco noticed the evil looks Ron was shooting him.  
  
"I'll tell you the whole story as we eat." Harry supplied trying to break the tense silence.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry did explain everything to the Weasleys, Hermione, and the various Order Members at the table. Ron continued to shoot Draco dark looks every time he saw him.  
  
Draco did not seem to notice. Hermione accepted his apology and struck up a conversation about what their summers had been like thus far. They were moving into a sitting room when Mrs. Weasley hugged him kindly and welcomed him into the family. Draco was stunned no one had ever hugged him before. He sat stunned and listened quietly to Hermione's tales of her summer and did not even notice when Harry dragged Ron out of the room. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Harry drug Ron out of the room and into a completely empty room. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he asked the stunned red head once the door was shut.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ron was confused.  
  
"I saw the looks you were shooting at my younger brother. You looked ready to kill him."  
  
"I don't trust him, Harry. How can you? According to what you've said, you've only known him for a few days."  
  
"He's my brother Ron. I trust him. We've had plenty of time to get to know each other while we were stuck together with the Dursleys. He was under the Impervious Curse. He didn't want to cause us problems, he was forced to."  
  
"How do you know he's not lying?" Ron asked.  
  
"You don't understand do you? You've always had your parents, siblings, and various other relatives. I haven't had anyone. My parents were killed Ron! I was separated from my twin at birth and never told of him. I lived with my Aunt and Uncle who never gave a damn about what happened to me. My godfather died protecting me! All I have left is Draco. He is my last relative that matters to me. You have to understand that. It's my job to look out for him just like you do for Ginny. If you have a problem with Draco, take it up with me right now." Harry was losing his temper.  
  
Ron was shocked at Harry's outburst. "I just need some time to get used to it." He said slowly, fearful of another outburst.  
  
"Fine. Draco is going to be a big part of my life now, you can't glare at him every time you see him." Harry had calmed a bit.  
  
Ron and Harry went to rejoin the rest of the group. They found them chatting about... teachers? Hermione, Ginny, Draco, and the twins were taking turns pointing out good and bad points about the teachers at Hogwarts as well as random run-in's they'd had with different teachers.  
  
"Unlike popular thought, Snape isn't nicer to Slytherins. True he doesn't take points off in class but he punishes us harshly for our screw-ups." Draco argued.  
  
"Yes, but he awards you enough points in class to make up for it." Fred supplied.  
  
"And he takes lots of points off the other houses while doing it. Thus he does favor his house more than say McGonagall who won't give us more points in class or out of it. In fact I think the only reason we won the house cup the last few years, excluding last year which was completely unfair, was because of Hermione's smarts, and all three of them's adventures and that doesn't count because most of those points were given by Dumbledore or other teachers." George argued for the sake of entertainment.  
  
"Did Draco tell you he's switching houses? In fact, he's enrolling under Potter this year." Harry cut in to the conversation.  
  
"Really? I wonder which house you'll be in?" Hermione thought out loud.  
  
Harry suddenly remembered. "Hey guys, I didn't tell you, Dumbledore is approving the DA as a club this year. I think it's going to be like a Jr. Order of the Phoenix. We won't be sent on as dangerous missions but we will train to fight, we can get information about Death Eater's children, suspicious behavior, and maybe we can find out some of what's going on." Harry explained what he thought might happen with the DA. "Dumbledore said something about having to sign some sort of book pledging that we will not speak of what goes on in the DA meetings to anyone outside the DA and he said we will have to have an official rule book."  
  
"That's great Harry, but where are we going to hold such a secret meeting?" Ron suddenly thought.  
  
"In a place only three people can unlock." Harry closed his eyes and thought of the secret apartment and whispered the password before opening his eyes. The door had appeared in the wall in front of him. He opened it and waved the others inside.  
  
He shut the door behind him, as he was the last person to enter the secret place.  
  
"Wow." Was all Ginny could say.  
  
"Harry, the only problem with this place is that it isn't at Hogwarts." Hermione reasoned.  
  
"Yes it is. We can conjure it anywhere." Draco explained as he led them into a sitting area. "Time also goes slower here. An hour in here is the same as a minute outside this apartment. This will help the scheduling of the meetings. You only need five minutes of spare time to get five hours of practice in. As Harry said there are only three people who have the key to this place." Draco was about to continue when Hermione interrupted.  
  
"Who has the key though? That's important." Hermione asked worried that someone they couldn't trust had a key.  
  
"I have one, Draco has one, and Tonks has one." Harry stated.  
  
"I also have one." Dumbledore stated from where he had entered. "Four were made. I helped make this place. Tonks and Sirius each had one, Tonks' mother Andromeda had one, and I had one. Another cannot be made. There are four and only four." Dumbledore told the shocked students.  
  
"Even better!" Harry shouted. "Who better to have a key to the meetings of Dumbledore's Army than Dumbledore himself?" he explained.  
  
"Professor, I noticed that all of the pendants seem to be house colors, is this significant?" Hermione's brow furrowed.  
  
"Very good Miss Granger. Indeed you are correct. The four pendants were made the house colors for a reason. When certain pendants are worn, some of the traits of that house are enhanced. Harry, who wears the red of Gryffindor, has his courage upped a bit. Draco, with the blue of Ravenclaw, gains knowledge, Tonks, who wears the green of Slytherin, gains more slyness, that helps with her auror and Order duties, I wear the yellow of Hufflepuff, the pendant makes me more trustworthy and honest." Dumbledore smiled at Hermione.  
  
Draco looked at his pendant. It swung back and forth creating a blue glow almost. If this brings out the intelligence, why didn't I realize the consequences of my actions at the Dursleys?  
  
"So you want to become a Junior Order of the Phoenix?"  
  
"I think it would prove useful, sir." Harry told him.  
  
"Alright, but there will be rules."  
  
The group nodded.  
  
"Rule # 1:There will be an elected leader for the group who will be responsible for anything that happens within the group."  
  
"Simple enough." Hermione said while taking notes.  
  
"2: This organization will not affect your grades to it will be closed. I expect all of you will be passing every class." He looked at them all over the top of his half moon glasses. "3: No one will be out after hours. No nighttime visits, exploring, or sneaking around unless otherwise cleared by me. The only exception would be if it were an emergency. 4: There will be no fights. Any fights that involve a DA member will be brought to my office as well as the leader of the DA. And finally, rule #5: All decisions about what to do about information and any missions are left up to me. Any information that is given to you or that you find stays within the DA. Any questions?"  
  
Everyone was silent. "Is that all professor?"  
  
"Oh yes one more. I would like Tonks to go to any meeting you have. Give her one of your ingenious coins Miss Granger."  
  
Hermione turned red. "Yes, Sir." She automatically responded.  
  
"Very well, I'll leave you." Dumbledore left.  
  
A/N: Now wasn't that long. Interesting but long. I have started chapter 9 but I have not finished it or begun to type it. Good day.( 5 pages for this really "long chapter" how sad is that? 


	9. Summer Troubles

A/N: Yay! I got my keyboard replaced! In case you didn't know, my keyboard was fried thus preventing an update. This keyboard was free (it's a pain in the ass but it was free all the same) thanks to my friend who just happened to have a spare. The 'n' and the 'I' get stuck or have to be banged but it will work for a while. I mean, I only have a month till I go to grandmas anyway. Sigh.. Anyway onto the chapter.  
  
Chapter 9: Summer troubles  
  
The summer went by with the group getting to know Draco and Draco getting to know the group. They all were having a good time playing wizarding chess (which Draco turned out to be good at), Exploding Snap, and various other games. The rather large group of teens almost made a big enough group to have a full-blown Quidditch match. They did have one or two matches which, depending on who made up the teams, varied on who won.  
  
The summer brought rather troubling things though. About three weeks after the Potter twins' arrival, Dumbledore called the two boys into his "office" as they had designated it.  
  
They sat wondering what more the headmaster could say to them to change their lives. Apparently there were some things that could still change.  
  
"Boys, I got a report this morning that your home on Privet Drive was attacked by Death Eaters. Lord Voldemort somehow found out where you have been living the past sixteen years. Luckily, your uncle was at work and your aunt and cousin were shopping and were not killed in the attack. As Lord Voldemort knows of your last remaining family they will be forced to stay here for their own safety. "  
  
Harry was stunned. The one thing that had never been in danger in his life had now been destroyed. The stability that the hell he referred to as his own personal hell had been destroyed. He sat there stunned until he realized what Dumbledore had just said.  
  
"Did you say the Dursleys are going to live here?" Draco asked the question first.  
  
"Yes. We cannot risk their lives by leaving them out in Muggle London. This place is almost as well protected as Hogwarts, and it will ensure the safety of their family. I am very much aware that this will be difficult for them to accept but it is necessary. Now I must ask you boys to make sure that they are as comfortable as possible and that they are not made to feel, how shall I say, unwanted."  
  
He gave them a stern look over the rims of his glasses. "You will not play pranks on them. I will go over this with the Weasley twins. No spells what- so-ever are to be used on our guests. Understand?" both boys nodded solemnly.  
  
The Dursleys were coming here?!! There was a twist.  
  
"Sir, when will they be getting here?" Harry asked almost afraid of the answer.  
  
"They will be here by lunch. I sent our kindest looking group to get them." Harry raised his eyebrow. "I sent Tonks, Remus, and Kingsley to get them as I didn't want to frighten them."  
  
Harry nodded. This would be interesting.  
  
Draco meanwhile was disappointed. His summer was so good so far. Did the Dursleys have to come and ruin it when he was just getting used to having a fun summer. He sighed. Voldemort was responsible for all of this. He would kill him just because it was that thing's fault his life had been so miserable thus far.  
  
Dumbledore dismissed them and went to prepare some rooms for the Dursleys. He conjured up some clothes and other items that they would need so they wouldn't be forced to buy their own things. He then left to find the Weasley twins. He told them the rules and the boys agreed to follow the rules if they were allowed to prank him and the Potter twins. He agreed to these terms and was curious to know what they would do to him.  
  
Harry decided to at least meet the Dursleys when they came. It would reassure them a bit to see someone they knew. He felt bad for them. Yeah they had mistreated him his whole life, but they didn't deserve to lose their home because of him. He sighed and headed toward the door where he would wait for them. Anti-apperation spells were placed on Order Headquarters to ensure that people could not be followed. In fact, the nearest point you can use a port-key or apperate was about a mile away.  
  
That is where the Dursleys would appear and then they would walk through a small village and up part of a mountain trail before coming to Headquarters. Harry was forbidden to go outside unescorted, as was Draco. They played Quidditch in the back with at least two Order members with them at all times. So Harry waited.  
  
Soon there were two knocks on the door followed by a pause and five more knocks. That was the signal that it was an order member so Harry opened the door. Remus gestured for the Dursleys to enter and quickly followed while Tonks began to put the spells back on the door and finished after entering and shutting it behind her.  
  
Dudley was terrified. All of them were scared but Dudley worst of all, especially when the twins appeared in the hall out of breath. "Hi." The chorused together before darting off again soon followed by an angry Draco.  
  
Harry shook his head and attempted to reassure the Dursleys. "They won't hurt you. They already got lectured and threatened about what would happen if they did." He looked at Dudley. "Still don't eat anything they drop, if you're hungry just tell someone and they'll get you something to eat." Harry smiled reassuringly at the group.  
  
He had never seen them look so scared. By this time Tonks and Remus had hurried away to an Order meeting that was taking place and Harry quietly led them to their rooms.  
  
The family started to calm down. Just as they seemed to relax Snape billowed past looking as evil and slimy as ever. Dudley yelped and hid behind Harry. (Not that it helped much.) This brought Snape's attention onto the group. "Potter! Why are you just standing there? Go play with your friends. You know it's not possible for you to overhear the meeting and its over anyway so there is no point in trying." He growled.  
  
"I wasn't trying to sir." Harry said back fiercely. "I was showing my family to their rooms. You know they are staying here." Harry was furious because the Dursleys were shaking with fear of Snape. Harry was fed up with the man. He didn't have to take his insults on vacation.  
  
"Don't take that tone with me Potter. You think you are so important just like your father did. You know what you aren't nearly as important as you act like you are. Black thought he was so important and invincible and look where that got him."  
  
Harry glared. "Don't talk about Sirius like that. He died doing something unlike you he was trying to help the situation. Just because of some stupid childhood rivalry, you refused to help me. You've seen worse things in my life and I don't care. You are just a selfish git that needs to wash his hair."  
  
Harry gestured for the Dursleys to follow not willing to get into an all fight with Snape in front of them, they were scared enough without having to deal with Snape.  
  
When he showed them the two rooms they would occupy, they stopped. Dudley was afraid of being alone in such a big place with so many magical people.  
  
"Dudley if you get scared I'm just across the hall. If things get too bad I might be able to get Draco to switch rooms with you." He actually felt bad for Dudley. It was much like Draco felt being in a house with such horrible muggles, he assumed.  
  
Dudley looked at Harry. "You- you'd do that for me?" his voice was noticeably shaky and his eyes reflected his fear.  
  
"Yeah. Normally I wouldn't but I sort of feel bad for you. See you were thrown into a world you know nothing about and have only had bad experiences with. At least when Draco was thrown into your world he had me for company. We haven't got along all our lives, in fact we were pretty much enemies, but its still comforting to have someone who knows about both worlds with you when you switch." Harry was about to say something else when there was a pop and Dobby appeared.  
  
Dudley jumped and screamed. Dobby looked confused and began to punish himself for scaring Dudley. Harry stopped Dobby and shushed Dudley. "Calm down both of you." Harry said quickly.  
  
Dobby calmed a bit and Dudley slowly sat as far from Dobby and as close to Harry as he could at the same time. Once they had both settled a bit Harry opened his mouth to explain. Before he could start though Petunia and Vernon rushed in.  
  
"What are you doing to our boy?" Vernon demanded at the same moment Petunia screamed at the sight of Dobby. Dobby looked like he was going to try and punish himself again and Harry finally yelled for everyone to calm down.  
  
"Ok. First, Dobby you didn't do anything wrong. I am going to have to ask if next time you come in here or in the room they are staying in you pop outside and knock. It'll save us the screaming." Harry looked at the little house elf. The little creature nodded.  
  
"Yes sir, Mr. Harry Potter, sir." He acknowledged.  
  
Harry smiled. "Dobby can you get us some sandwiches and juice for lunch?"  
  
Dobby nodded making his ears flap and he disappeared again.  
  
"Ok everyone sit down and I'll explain everything." For once everyone listened. Once everyone was seated (shaking terrified, but seated all the same), Harry took a breath to explain. "That was Dobby, he's a house elf. He does the cooking and cleaning and any other chores that need to be done here or at Hogwarts, depending on who he is assigned to serve. If you need anything, Dobby can get it for you." He explained slowly.  
  
"So he's like a slave?" Petunia said disgusted.  
  
"Not exactly. See house elfs are happy to work. Most of them don't want to be free of whatever house they are bound to. Dobby is free, sort of. I freed him from his previous owner but he couldn't find another job, well one that would pay. Dumbledore hired Dobby and pays him a small fee each month only by Dobby's choice. He did not want higher pay and he likes to work." Harry tried to explain the house elf's enslavement. He knew that Dumbledore didn't consider them slaves and would free any that wanted to be free.  
  
They still looked confused. Dobby knocked and entered with the food. He sat it on a table and left wary of upsetting the guests.  
  
Harry offered the sandwiches to the Dursleys. Dudley was cautious. "The twins haven't gotten a hold of the food, Dudley. Trust me they should be off to work soon in fact." Dudley took one and took a bite. Nothing happened. "Told you." Harry said simply handing each of them a goblet of Pumpkin Juice.  
  
They sat in silence for a while then Harry decided to try and have a conversation with the Dursleys. "So is there anything you want to know about the place your staying, the people here, or the magical world in general?" He tried.  
  
"Who was that man? The one that said something about your father?" Dudley asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that. He's one of my teachers." Harry winced at the memory. "He's always like that with me. He hated my father and he hates me because I'm famous and thus get way too much attention. Not to mention I look just like my dad and he still hates his guts."  
  
Vernon spoke up. "Do you always talk to your teachers like that boy?"  
  
"No, but he deserves it. See that Godfather that I told you about died this last term saving my life. The whole reason I was in danger was because that slimy haired git stopped teaching me how to block my mind from intrusions so I was tricked into leaving the school. I was about to be attacked when he jumped in and saved me. Then he fell through the curtain. It's the wizarding way of executing people." Harry had this haunted look in his eyes. "I wanted to go after him but I couldn't. They held me back. They wouldn't let me go after him." Harry snapped out of it. "He's gone now and it's that git's fault."  
  
"So your Godfather is dead?" Petunia asked for clarification.  
  
Harry nodded mutely.  
  
"Well that means we don't have to worry about him anymore." Vernon smiled.  
  
Harry shook his head. "No but you do have to worry about the rest of the Order. Like Mad-eye. The guy with the cane and the bowler hat at the train station. He doesn't take my safety lightly." Harry grinned as Vernon paled in remembrance.  
  
The door opened and Hermione swung in. "Harry, Ron sent me to ask you if you're playing Quidditch with them or not."  
  
"Sure. When are they starting?" he brightened. This might be good for the Dursleys.  
  
"In five minutes, I'm Hermione." She introduced herself to the Dursleys.  
  
"Would you like to watch a game of Quidditch?" he asked the Dursleys.  
  
They looked confused. "Its our sport. Quite fun to watch." Hermione explained.  
  
"Do people get hurt in it?" Dudley asked.  
  
"All the time. Hermione can explain the rules to you while you watch. You want to come?"  
  
Dudley saw his parents shake their heads not wanting him to get involved with these freaks. "Sure why not." He got up to join them. He'd be here for a while, might as well figure out what they talk about.  
  
Harry smiled at the shocked looks on his Aunt and Uncle's faces. He turned to Hermione. "Tell them I'm coming. I just need to get my broom."  
  
"Get Draco's while you're at it. Its not like he should be forced to run all the way over here when he doesn't have to." Hermione said before making her way towards the others.  
  
Harry led Dudley to his room. Dudley gaped at the moving pictures on the walls. Harry grabbed his Firebolt out of his trunk and moved to Draco's to get his Nimbus 2001. Dudley was even impressed by the brooms. They got out to the Quidditch practice area and Hermione led Dudley to where they would watch and keep score. (Hermione hated flying a broom.) Fred and George separated to be beaters on each team. Draco and Harry were the seekers, and Ron was keeper for Harry's team and Ginny for Draco's. Bill had joined Draco's team and Charlie Harry's and they were ready to begin. Normally Tonks and Remus joined them for the game when they weren't busy, but apparently they had work to do for the Order (to which Draco had said they were probably going off to snog each other).  
  
Dudley, much to Harry's amazement, seemed to be enjoying himself. The game came to an early end when it was time for dinner. Kingsley, who was supervising the game, led them inside so they could have enough time to clean up and still be on time for dinner. They all washed up before heading to the dinning room where Mrs. Weasley had prepared a big meal.  
  
Dudley was ecstatic. He didn't have to follow his diet as much here. The Dursleys immediately took Harry's plate. Mrs. Weasley looked at them confused. Dumbledore just stared blankly. "What exactly are you doing Mr. Dursley?" asked the kind old man.  
  
"The boy doesn't need this much food, it's a waste to give it to him. He does nothing to earn it. It is a waste of money to give him so much." Vernon stated simply.  
  
"Mr. Dursley, am I to take it that you regularly deprive Harry and now Draco of food?"  
  
"Deprive, no. Only give them as much as I think they need, yes. They are only deprived as punishment."  
  
Dumbledore looked shocked.  
  
"Boys how much food do you get during the summer usually?" McGonagall asked from her spot next to Dumbledore.  
  
"Er...depends Professor." Harry answered.  
  
"On what?" this time it was Remus.  
  
"How much trouble I've caused and what diet Dudley is on." Harry answered quietly.  
  
Many of the people in the room gasped in shock.  
  
"Told you they were mistreating him Albus." McGonagall stated simply.  
  
"Why would the diet determine how much food you get Harry?" Dumbledore ignored McGonagall's remark.  
  
"I wasn't allowed to get more than Dudley sir. If Dudley's diet said that he got one-fourth of a grapefruit, I got a smaller fourth."  
  
"Mr. Dursley do you have anything to say about this?" Dumbledore asked getting angry.  
  
A/n: And that is it for this chapter. I posted in honor of my birthday. Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy birthday dear me, Happy birthday to me. 'm so happy, I'm 17 tomorrow. Yippee! 


	10. Consequences

**Chapter 10: Consequences**

Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
"It was fair! We were all following the diet so that Dudley would feel better about it. We all lacked food while he was on that diet." Vernon tried to defend.  
  
"How is it fair to starve a child who is already underweight? That is referred to as abuse and neglect, Mr. Dursley, even the muggle world frowns on such things." Dumbledore was standing in fury now. Harry saw the same look on Dumbledore's face only twice before. Once in fourth year when he broke down the door to Crouch Jr.'s office and once more when he had dueled Voldemort.  
  
Draco was scared as well. He had never seen the old man this angry before. It was terrifying. Draco swore he would do anything he could to keep that anger from ever being turned on him. Lucius was less terrifying than this when he was in one of his moods. Voldemort was less terrifying than this.  
  
Harry snuck a glance at his brother who had turned extremely pale at the site of Dumbledore standing in anger and the feeling of power radiating from the wizard. Hermione and the Weasleys were also shocked at the site (though not as much) and looked as if they were frozen.  
  
"Mr. Dursley, I, Albus Dumbledore, revoke you and your wife's rights to guardianship of Harry Potter, Draco Potter, and Dudley Dursley under the charge of mental abuse, physical abuse, and neglect to the aformentioned Potter twins and declare that you are unfit to be parents to any child due to such charges. If you do not sign rights over to me or to a person that I see fit to care for the boys properly, I will take this to a muggle court where you will most likely have no choice in the matter and be sent to jail. If we take this to court I cannot control where the boys will go but I can tell you I will win. I suggest you sign." Dumbledore waved his wand and the appropriate papers appeared.  
  
Vernon stared at the old man. His mouth fell open as he was handed a quill and inkpot.  
  
"Sir." Harry addressed Dumbledore quietly almost afraid to speak to the infuriated Headmaster.  
  
"Yes Harry?" Dumbledore asked with the twinkle returning to his eye. He would not turn his anger on the boys. He had been at Hogwarts too long for that.  
  
"Who- who will be my new guardian?" Harry stammered still afraid of what Dumbledore would say.  
  
"That will be up to you and Draco. We will discuss it in the Order meeting this afternoon and you can decide who you think would be good at that time." Dumbledore explained his plan.  
  
"Is there a chance you could be our guardian sir?" Draco asked when he had regained his voice.  
  
"We will talk about it later." Dumbledore quieted the young man and turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Molly, can you take the kids somewhere? We will have dinner later. I'll come find you when I'm done here." Dumbledore was obviously going to say some choice words to Vernon and Petunia.  
  
Harry and Draco stood when Mrs. Weasley gestured for them to follow.  
  
From what Harry knew of Mrs. Weasley, he could tell she was fuming. Draco stared at the angry red head.  
  
'_I have to remember not to tick her off._' Draco thought as they were led to a sitting room.  
  
A/N: Yay! I updated. For those of you who care, my keyboard didn't work right so I couldn't or rather wouldn't update till I got a new one. Now I have one that works and its summer so I'm bored and have a lot of spare time. Whoo! I'll update a lot now. I go to my grandma's later this month and she has DSL so I can update easier. Enjoy the next chapter should be up tomorrow.


	11. Guardian

**Chapter 11: Guardian**

Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
Everyone was silent for a few minutes until Hermione broke the silence. "I didn't know you were getting that little food Harry." She stated out of the blue.  
  
Harry smiled sheepishly. "I never knew that it wasn't normal until I went to Hogwarts first year. We were allowed to eat what we wanted, do what we wanted, ask questions. I wasn't allowed to do any of that for the first eleven years of my life. When the summer before second year came around and I was locked in my room and told that I wouldn't be going back to Hogwarts, I was scared. I was happy that I wasn't locked in that bloody cupboard though. When Draco came I felt bad for him. He was condemned to live with the Dursleys as well."  
  
"That cupboard is a lot larger than it looks. Who knew you could fit two teenage boys in there?" Draco said out of nowhere. "It's the work that freaked me out. I never knew that work was so hard. They made me wash dishes, cook, clean the house, work outside. I didn't mind the small cupboard. When you live with Lucius Malfoy you get used to dark places." Draco shuddered at the memory.  
  
Hermione looked horrified. "You mean you both have been mistreated all your life? Why didn't you ever tell anyone?" Hermione was too shocked to think logically.  
  
"Mione, calm down. Its over now. Dumbledore won't let the Dursleys continue treating them this way." Ron cut in before she could lecture the two boys.  
  
"Do you think I'll like my new guardians?" Dudley, who everyone forgot was there, asked.  
  
'_Poor Dudley!_' Harry thought. "I'm not sure who you will end up with but they will treat you good. Hey Draco who do you think should be our new guardian?"  
  
"Remus?" Draco suggested.  
  
"I don't think he will because of his transforming but we can ask him." Harry thought for a moment.  
  
"Why don't we ask that now?" Draco suggested standing.  
  
"Um...Ok. Dudley do you want to see if he will be your guardian too?" Harry asked the worried looking boy.  
  
Dudley nodded mutely, not wanting to be left alone with people he didn't know. He hurried after the two boys as they moved to find the kind man.  
  
"Moony!" Harry yelled upon seeing Remus talking quietly to Tonks.  
  
Remus jumped and Tonks' hair changed to bright red in shock. "Aren't you supposed to be at dinner?" Remus asked looking a bit confused.  
  
"Why weren't you at dinner?" Draco suddenly questioned suspicious of the werewolf.  
  
"We...Uh...we were finishing some paperwork and lost track of time. Dobby brought us some sandwiches though." Remus stammered looking everywhere but at the three boys.  
  
"You haven't answered us yet. Why aren't you boys at dinner?" Tonks chose to put the spotlight back on the teens.  
  
"That's what we're here for. Dumbledore found out that the Dursleys were mistreating us and took custody away from them. He said we were to choose a guardian and we came to ask if Remus would be our guardian." Harry explained in one breath.  
  
"Mistreating you? How?" Remus looked angry and didn't seem to hear the part about him being their guardian.  
  
"They were starving us, belittling us, and locking us in a cupboard." Harry muttered hoping Remus wouldn't hear.  
  
But it was close to the full moon so Remus' hearing was better than usual. "They what?! I mean I knew about the cupboard and the work but they starve you and belittle you as well. I reported what I knew but this is pathetic. I thought that was just one of those go to bed without dinner things not go without food." Remus was pacing now. "If Sirius were here..." he trailed off at the thought of Sirius.  
  
Remus reached a wall and banged his hand against it. "Lily and James would be heartbroken. Poor Prongs. His sons, the only offspring of a Marauder, were sent to live with such horrible gits." He said to himself but Harry heard.  
  
"If mom and dad were here, I wouldn't be in this situation." He stated glumly before turning and running off.  
  
Draco stared at Remus for a moment before grabbing the werewolf and spinning him around. "Quit with your self-pity and think! Here we are asking you to be our guardian and you remind him that its because his parents are dead that he's in this situation. If that's not enough he also feels bad because his rightful guardian died defending him, his relatives lost their home and are now forced to be here because of him and that now he has not only a younger brother to worry about but also his cousin finding a guardian. Meanwhile you are here feeling sorry for yourself and for what? Just because you've had a hard life does not give you the bloody right to make Harry miserable." Draco stared at Remus harshly not even sure what he was really angry about. He was angry that Harry was upset but the last week had just been too much for Draco. "If you do accept the position of our guardian you had better learn that he feels bad that so many have been forced to sacrifice so much for him."  
  
Draco left knowing he needed to get his emotions under control. He was confused about everything he was feeling. Too much had happened too quickly for him to cope. Dudley stood shocked for a moment before deciding that he should go wait for someone to find him in his room.

* * *

Harry had went back to their room and laid on the bed thinking. He got up and took his photo album out of his bedside table drawer. His eyes filled with tears at the pictures. There was a picture their of the old Order of the Phoenix given to him by Dumbledore the last Christmas. Next to that was a picture of his family and their friends.  
  
James stood smiling and laughing with his arms around Lily's round stomach. Remus and Sirius were wrestling on the floor at the moment and Peter was standing on the edge of the picture wringing his hands.  
  
A tear rolled off Harry's face and fell onto the picture startling the occupants.  
  
Harry took the picture out, closed the album, and allowed himself to cry. No one would see him. He laid down clutching the picture to his chest and cried himself to sleep.

* * *

Draco had gone to the secret apartment to get away from everything. He sat on one of the couches in front of the fire and watched the flames. Lucius had been a horrible man and had treated Draco the same as a house-elf but it still felt weird to not have him breathing down Draco's neck. Since he was little Draco had hated the man. He wasn't a loving like most fathers. Instead he kept the house in line with an iron fist.  
  
Draco attempted to sort out his feelings. He didn't hate the Dursleys for treating him wrong. He lived with Lucius his whole life so the Dursleys weren't that bad. If Draco thought about it, he knew he felt bad that they had lost their home. He knew that it had to be weird to come into a world that had only brought trouble to you. He felt bad for Dudley. In fact, he knew what Dudley felt like. All of a sudden you get moved away from the only family you ever knew into a completely different environment and such. Poor kid, Draco at least had Harry to help deal. Hopefully, whoever Dudley ended up with would make sure that Dudley saw Harry. It would help a bit.  
  
Draco began to think back to his outburst. He knew he shouldn't have yelled at the man but he had hurt his twin brother. He couldn't just stand there. Harry had stood up for him in the Weasleys eyes. Draco continued to try and sort out his feelings (something he was not used to having) and soon nodded off on the couch.

* * *

Remus didn't know what was wrong with him. He had sat on the floor when Draco stormed off and hadn't moved since. He vaguely remember hearing Tonks say she was going to see what was happening and felt her squeeze his shoulder before leaving to see what she could learn.  
  
So he sat there not just a little shocked at the whole conversation. The shock wore off enough for him to think about the proposition. They had asked him to be their guardian. Remus J. Lupin the guardian of three teenage boys. Could he do it?  
  
This was how Moody found him. Moody stood and watched him for a few minutes waiting for the younger man to notice him. After ten minutes he got tired of waiting and hit him with his walking stick. (on orders from Madam Pomprey, he was to use it when he was at Headquarters.)  
  
Remus jumped at the contact and stared up at the old man.  
  
"You know sitting in the middle of the hall isn't a good idea." Moody said as he helped Remus up.  
  
"Yeah yeah. I don't know what I'm going to do Mad-eye. Did you know that they asked me to be their guardian? I want to but there is always the risk that one of my transformations might not be controlled. What do you think I should do?"

* * *

Dumbledore and McGonagall knocked quietly on the twin's door. When there was no answer Dumbledore slowly edged the door open to see if they were just not answering. He had heard about the argument from Tonks and had decided to come see how the boys were fairing. He knew it had to be difficult for them but he knew it must be done. Once everything settled down, the boys would be ok.  
  
Dumbledore spotted Harry on the bed and moved toward it. His heart broke at what he saw. The boy was clutching a picture to him and had tear tracks down his face and damping his pillow.  
  
"The poor boy. Albus he's been through so much. Is there anything we can do for him?" McGonagall asked looking at her young lion.  
  
"He still has much more to go through Minerva. All we can do is be there for him when he needs us. Let him sleep. I want Remus to come see him. It would be good for both of them to get their feelings about this out. And Draco. We have to get him as well." He remembered about the other young boy who they had to worry about.  
  
"Where is Draco?" McGonagall noticed the other bed remained empty.  
  
"Probably in their little sanctuary." Dumbledore opened the door to the place and went in search of Draco. A few seconds later, he returned with Draco floating in front of him. He laid Draco on his bed and slipped quietly out of the room in search of Remus.  
  
Dumbledore never found Remus because Remus wandered into the twin's room on his own with Tonks right beside him. His talk with Mad-eye had helped him make his decision and he wanted to tell the boys. When he spotted both of them asleep he decided to wait for them to wake. He moved to pull Harry's shoes off when he noticed the picture and tear tracks. He gestured for Tonks to join him from where she was taking Draco's shoes of and magically changing him into his pajamas.  
  
Tonks pulled the sheets over the boy and brushed his hair out of his face before joining Remus. She carefully pulled the picture out of the boy's grasp and looked at it. Lily was laughing as James attempted to save Remus from Sirius while Remus slowly slipped out of the fight to touch Lily's stomach. "Its all right Harry. Dad will win." The whisper from the picture came.  
  
Tonks handed it to Remus and whispered that she was going to go check on Dudley. She slipped out and he gently removed the boy's shoes. After magically changing him into pajamas and tucking him in. Remus set the picture on the nightstand and kissed both boys on the forehead. "Its alright Harry, Draco. We'll get through this together."  
  
**A/N: see quick update. I hope it was long enough. I really do. 2,070 words. Is that long enough? I'm halfway through with Chapter 12 so be just a bit patient and I'll give you a treat. ::Grins evily:: next update soon! **


	12. Diagon Alley

**Chapter 12: Diagon Alley**

Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
The next morning Harry woke early. He had slept well, for once, but he still was unsure how he ended up in his pajamas. Draco it seemed had the same question because he kept looking at his outfit and back to Harry.  
  
Harry shrugged and went for a shower. He went to breakfast in better spirits than he had fallen asleep with. Surprisingly enough, it appeared that he and Draco were the last ones up. Harry looked at his watch to double-check the time.  
  
"Is it just me or is it extremely early for everyone to be awake?" he asked Draco.  
  
"No, my watch says 8:00 as well." He looked around.  
  
"Ah good you're up. This meeting concerns you anyway. Here sit down and have some of Molly's delicious pancakes." Dumbledore gestured them to some free seats. "So have you two thought about who you would like as your guardian?"  
  
"Sir I was wondering if we could have two guardians?" Draco asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore looked at the young man curiously.  
  
"Sort of like duel custody that muggles have when they get divorced." Harry supplied catching on.  
  
"Well I suppose we could arrange it. That is of course if the two parties agree. Who do you have in mind?"  
  
"One more question. Can Dudley stay with us? I mean if he has to get a new guardian can he at least stay with us?" Harry was the one to ask.  
  
Dudley stared shocked at him. "But-I was always mean to you. You want me to come with you to a new home?" Dudley was shocked.  
  
"Look. I suggested it. I know what its like for everything to suddenly change. You're going to need an anchor when the whole world flips so you really should stay with us." Draco answered before looking at Dumbledore for the answer to Harry's question.  
  
"If that is what you wish." Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"Alright then we want you and Remus to be our guardians." They had talked about it on the way to breakfast and had decided.  
  
"I accept the position." Remus said with a smile. "I had my fears but a few people slapped some sense into me." Remus smirked while muttering a "literally" sneaking a glance at Tonks.  
  
"Bloody right I did." Tonks didn't care who knew she had smacked him. She was proud of it.  
  
Harry was grinning at the two knowingly.  
  
Dumbledore looked at each of the three boys in turn.  
  
"I will be your secondary guardian but that does not mean that you will be favored during the school term."  
  
"Yes sir." Harry and Draco responded.  
  
Dudley was still stunned at the thought that Harry and Draco wanted him with them. He grinned happily.  
  
"Now if you kids hurry and eat you can go to Diagon Alley for the day." Dumbledore told the group of teens.  
  
They all began eating.

* * *

"Alright everyone settle down." Remus instructed the group.  
  
"Shut up all of you." Tonks said loudly.  
  
They were all quiet. Tonks opened her mouth to say something to Remus when he rolled his eyes but thought better of it.  
  
Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Harry, and Dudley listened as Remus explained how they would do this. Tonks would pose as a teen (at which point she transformed to look like someone their age) and they would attend the stores in a group.  
  
"Absolutely no wondering off. I know you all want to do what you want but at the moment it is too dangerous. Order members are wandering throughout the alley so that you are safe wherever you are. We can stop at whatever stores you want." Remus looked at the suddenly deflated group.  
  
"You act like you have strict members assigned to you. Honestly you have me and Remus here. I'm not what you would call mature and Remus was once one of the greatest pranksters of all time." Tonks cheered the kids up.  
  
"Once? I still am." At her look he sighed. "Ok ok so without the group I'm nothing."  
  
They headed out towards the little town. There they called for the Knight Bus. Remus' three young charges were sent to the top while Tonks and the others stayed on the bottom. Soon enough they were there and were stopping at Gringotts. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were unable to come with them so they had left Tonks in charge of buying for the kids.  
  
Remus headed with his group to the Potter safe while Tonks went to the Weasley's. Hermione had some money to exchange afterwards but Tonks would take care of that after they collected the money.  
  
Dudley looked as if he would be sick by the time the ride down finished. When the goblin (which he was terrified of) opened the safe they all gasped. The money had doubled since they had been there a week ago. A note had been added to the pile, which Harry climbed up to get.  
  
"Dear Harry and now Draco as well, we noticed the store was making quite a bit of money so we decided to open a new vault just for each of our shares of the company. You should have seen mom's face when she opened the vault. We left a little gift for her there. Swing by the shop and we'll give you the key. Your business partners, Gred and Feorge"  
  
Harry read aloud.  
  
Dudley was shocked at the amount of gold. "Dad would kill you if he saw this." He said simply.  
  
"That's why I never told him. Draco fill your bag. Dudley, here's a bag, you might find something you like here." Harry handed him a full bag.  
  
"Well paying for stuff for you shouldn't be a problem." Remus commented amazed.  
  
"This is more than mom and dad left me." Harry stated as he withdrew from the vault.  
  
They met up with Tonks and the others in front of the bank and made their way to the bookstore.  
  
"Well if it ain't Potter and his little friends." Crabbe pushed Harry into a bookshelf.  
  
Draco looked as if he wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't take them on by himself and the others seemed to have disappeared. All except for Dudley.  
  
"Hey leave my brother alone." Draco stepped in front of Crabbe.  
  
"Look Potter has a fan." Goyle stated.  
  
'_How did I ever deal with such stupid bodyguards?_' Draco asked himself.  
  
Dudley was frozen as the second big lug grabbed Draco and threw him into the bookcase.  
  
One of them threw a punch at Harry making the books fall on Draco when Harry dodged.  
  
Draco was now out cold. Dudley knew he had to do something because now there was nothing standing between Harry and those two big idiots.  
  
Dudley stepped in front of them. They were smaller than him and probably had less experience in bullying.  
  
"Let my cousin go or I smash your face in." Dudley stated while pounding his fist into his open hand.  
  
Crabbe and Goyle didn't know what to do. They sneered (or tried to) like Draco would and continued to pick on Harry who was for once without the ever-present friends.  
  
Dudley slammed into one of them and watched as he fell into the other.  
  
Harry fell to the floor with a thud. By now the noise had reached the rest of the group and they had managed to get to the scene. Dudley helped Harry unbury Draco.  
  
Draco groaned. "Remind me not to do that again."  
  
Remus glared at the two bullies and watched their eyes widen at being caught by a teacher out of school.  
  
Tonks repaired the bookshelf with a wave of her wand and sent the books flying back onto it.  
  
Harry was busy making sure his brother was ok and thanking Dudley.  
  
The two bullies got up and ran off so the adults couldn't curse them.  
  
After leaving Flourish and Blotts, they decided that they needed a quick rest and headed for the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.  
  
Upon entering they were shocked to see that they had to fight their way to the counter. Fred must have spotted Ginny and Ron's flaming red hair from the front because he yelled out to George. "Hey George! Over there by the Ton Tongue Toffees!"  
  
George looked and spotted them. "Hey guys. Hold on a second." He jumped down and made his way to them from where he had been restocking shelves.  
  
"Hi guys. This way. I'll take you to our office." He grinned as he led the way.  
  
Fred soon joined them. "Hi. We make enough now that we can pay employees to do some of the work. Here's your key and vault number Harry. So what would you like?"  
  
"Somewhere to sit would be nice." Remus said holding his head from the noise.  
  
"Go sit on the couch over there and rest for a bit. The rest of you feel free to look around and whatever you want bring it in here. Family gets discounts as well as Order members. Draco, Harry's cousin, you can have discounts as well." Fred got up and made his way back to the front.  
  
The teens all smiled and hurried into the store making their way toward the shelves. They stocked up on Skiving Snackboxes, Ton Tongue Toffees, and extendable ears. They grabbed some various other items as well. Just as they were heading for the back room with the pranks the door burst open to reveal a rather large group of Dementors. Dudley looked scared as the cold rushed over him again. Ginny whimpered and the twins were shaking as much as the others. Harry drew his wand and thought of the happiest thing, he didn't have to live with the Dursleys anymore!  
  
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he yelled along with Lupin. A white stag as well as a white wolf chased the Dementors away. That's when Harry heard it. Chaos and screaming. Through the windows you could see Death Eaters tormenting the shoppers. Harry pushed Dudley into the back room. "Stay here. They hate Muggles and you will be a big target." Harry instructed closing the door.  
  
He made his way to the alley and began firing curses that he knew. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny joined him in stunning the Death Eaters. Draco went with the twins to help shield the customers inside the shop.  
  
Remus and Tonks guarded the exits from the alley after casting an anti- apperating charm. The other order members were casting and dodging curses as fast as they could.  
  
Soon it was all over. Ten death Eaters had been stunned the rest had gotten away. Harry quickly made his way to his terrified cousin.  
  
"Wh-What w-was th-that?" Dudley asked as he shook with fear.  
  
"That, was a test of our strength." Dumbledore supplied from the fireplace he had just come out of.  
  
**A/N: Wow 2 chapters in one day. See a treat! A suspenseful one but a treat all the same. 1,823 words if you are interested. **


	13. Meetings

**Chapter 13: Meetings  
**  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
A/N: This is for Sheree. Her review was so great. I now like this person a lot. Here for the benifit of lazy people who are curious: From: Sheree()  
  
There are only 2 stories where Harry and Draco turn out to be brothers. One of them has Harry as a Malfoy and the other is this one. I like Remus being the boys' guardian and I like the way they are taking Dudley in. That's one thing about Rowling's books I don't care for. No one seems to grow or change that much. Not much character development.I hope you will update soon. Maybe the Hogwarts Express. I can't wait to see the Slytherins' reactions to Draco being Harry's brother.

Isn't it so cool. Oh as for your there are only 2 stories like this thats not true because I read one where they both end up Potters. It never explains how that happened though. Oh well enjoy.

"What do you mean sir?" Draco asked as he joined the group.  
  
"Voldemort is testing our reaction time and strength. He is planning something big. We have to figure out what." Dumbledore looked around. "Finish your shopping quickly. Spread out. Two of you go get all the books, two of you potions ingredients needed, two of you quills and parchment, Remus, Tonks, get whatever else they need. The Weasley twins will just have to bring any purchases you might have made to Headquarters. Go on now." Dumbledore instructed.  
  
Hermione and Ron went for books, Draco and Dudley went for quills and parchment, and Ginny and Harry went for potion ingredients.  
  
Harry was having a nice chat on the way there with the youngest Weasley. "So how is it going with you and Dean?" he asked looking for a conversation topic.  
  
"I was never dating Dean so good. See I said it to tick off the over protective Ron. He is so annoying with that I decided to play with his mind a bit." Ginny smiled at the memory of Ron's face. "It was well worth it."  
  
Harry thought about it. He hadn't really paid attention, in fact, he really had only caught a few parts of the conversation. He had instead been focusing on the pain of Sirius' death.  
  
They bought what was needed before heading back to the prearranged meeting spot. Ron and Hermione came last with Ron weighed down by books for everyone save Hermione who carried her own books. Harry ran to help his friend by taking some of the books.  
  
"Did you buy the whole store Mione?" Harry asked looking at the amount of books.  
  
"Most of these are yours Harry. Learning to be an Auror takes a lot of studying. I chose to be a teacher, which also takes an enormous amount of studying. The rest of the books are for everyone else. They don't have nearly as much." Hermione explained as the boys separated the load. They managed to get on the Knight Bus and get back to the little town quickly enough. As they began their walk towards Headquarters (from which the Dursleys had been booted) Tonks finally got tired of the struggle and just shrunk the books before slipping them in her purse.  
  
"You couldn't just do that from the beginning?" Ron asked incredulously.  
  
"No, it was too fun watching you struggle."  
  
The boys all looked stunned that she could be so evil.  
  
The moment they reached Headquarters they were pulled into a meeting. The teens were to attend as well.  
  
"This meeting of the Order of the Phoenix and what few members we have so far of Dumbledore's Army is about Voldemort's next move. We need to figure out what he's been planning." Dumbledore gestured around the room. "I'm open for ideas."  
  
Hermione looked in deep concentration. "It will be something that would be a tremendous blow to our self-esteem but not a straight forth plot. Hmmm."  
  
Snape was looking at her smugly because she hadn't figured it out right away.  
  
"The train." Harry said simply. "What would be a bigger blow to anyone than a bunch of kids on a train to school. That would hurt everyone, including Dumbledore. The train is sort of in a bad spot where it is. There is one way in and out and we can't risk muggle exposure so we have to be careful how fast we come out. Then the students would be trapped on the train itself while any defense would be hard with just aurors and order members. Too many entries to the train to block them all and some members will be helpless if they bring Dementors."  
  
"So anyone got a plan to protect the train?" Draco asked looking around. The Order seemed shocked that his idea might be right and that the train was indeed vulnerable.  
  
"We could just let the students in. We could put anti-apperation spells on the platform and have Moody stand guard at the barrier." Kingsley suggested.  
  
"That doesn't stop Portkeys." Hermione supplied simply.  
  
"Granger is right." Mad-eye stated. "We need some more reliable defense for on the train. Something that wouldn't seem so obvious so we could catch them by surprise."  
  
"The DA. We can help protect the train. If Harry, Ron, and I can visit some of the DA members we can make sure they are prepared for it. We would need to be able to use magic though, and we'll need that book to pledge loyalty to the DA as well as the rule book." Hermione began to get an idea.  
  
"How long will it take you to write the rules Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked the young witch.  
  
"Dumbledore you can't be serious! You would put students to defend students?" Hestia Jones protested.  
  
"I'm serious. They went into the Department of Mysteries against many Death Eaters and came out in good shape. They practiced dueling all year last year and didn't get caught. They were turned in by one of their members but we have solved that problem. They are capable enough so long as they stay on the train." Dumbledore looked directly at Harry.  
  
Harry looked down guiltily.  
  
"Dumbledore who are we talking about here? How many students?" another person asked.  
  
"What did you have about 30 people Harry?" Dumbledore turned to the young man.  
  
"Around that sir. Hermione has a copy of the list, I think. We can start talking to them as soon as you'd like." Harry answered and watched as Hermione thought for a second before running off to get the list.  
  
She returned a few minutes later holding a piece of parchment. "Here you are sir." Hermione handed him the list.  
  
"Two of you may go. We only have one book that they can sign. Hurry and finish writing the rules and I will make them official and from there we will send you off." Dumbledore passed the list around before waving his wand. Two books appeared on the table, which Dumbledore promptly picked up and handed to Hermione.  
  
"To ensure the safety of the names you will have them sign in this book," he picked up a black book with gold lettering reading 'The DA', "so that when they sign, their name is not known. Only members of the DA, people who have signed the pledge of loyalty that is unbreakable, can read it. The other book is for the rules that only whoever is secretary at the time can write in. Until the first meeting you are the secretary. At the first official meeting you will vote for both a leader and a secretary." Dumbledore gestured for the teens to leave and once they were out of earshot they continued the meeting.  
  
The group of adolescence worked for the whole afternoon on perfecting the rule book. They ate dinner in silence, too tired from the day's events for conversation.  
  
They went to their rooms and went to bed after giving both books to Dumbledore. Harry and Hermione were to go to all the DA members the next day to either get their pledge and explain the plan or to retrieve the coins Hermione had made.  
  
Harry fell asleep quickly.

* * *

_It was dark. Harry couldn't see anything but he could hear voices and the whispering of leaves in the wind. Suddenly, there was light in the middle of the darkness, revealing a group of about 20 death eaters in what seemed to be a clearing in a forest. Voldemort stood just behind the light source in the center of the circle.  
  
"How many?" he hissed.  
  
"300, my lord." One of the hooded figures spoke.  
  
"100 will attack the train. The rest will take Hogwarts. Are the recruits ready to be tested?" the evil wizard spoke to one of the hooded Death Eaters.  
  
"Yes my Lord."  
  
"Bring them." Harry turned at a movement to his right.  
  
"Three figures were shoved forward. "My Lord, I could not find Lucius' boy. The others were where they were supposed to be." The figure behind them stated simply.  
  
"Let us begin."  
  
The vision started to fade just as Harry caught site of the three "new recruits" faces.  
_  
**A/N: Aren't I evil? That was fun. Really it was. I would have gone on but it just seemed a good place to stop. 1,377 words. I'll try and put the # of words on the posts for those who are curious. I would be. Bye, I must go make my plans to take over the world- uh I mean work on the next chapter. Yeah that's what I meant. ::Eyes dart back and forth::**


	14. The Enlisting of Help

**Chapter 14: The Enlisting of Help**  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
**A/N: I told you I would work a lot in the summer, and this is without the DSL and quiet of my grandma's house. Wait till I get there.  
**  
Harry shot up clutching his scar in pain. He tried not to make any noise as he got up and pulled on his dressing gown. He silently slipped out of the room and headed for Dumbledore's room. He found it quickly enough and knocked. About a minute later, the door was answered not by the Headmaster but by McGonagall. Harry was stunned for a moment before gaining his voice.  
  
"I'm sorry, Professor I was looking for the Headmaster." He managed to get out.  
  
"Albus you have a visitor." McGonagall called back into the room before letting Harry in.  
  
"Who is it Minerva?" the old man called back.  
  
"Its Potter. And now he is totally confused I might add." Minerva said as Dumbledore entered the sitting room.  
  
"Ah Harry. What are you doing up and about at this hour?" Dumbledore sat down and conjured some tea for the group.  
  
"I had a vision or I think it was a vision again sir."  
  
"Albus the boy won't be able to concentrate with the questions in his head. You might as well tell him." McGonagall spoke again.  
  
"True enough. You are probably wondering why Minerva is here and not in her own rooms. I will tell you then. Minerva is my wife. She and I have been married for almost 50 years now. We kept it a secret because we both have too many enemies that will use it against us. It makes things complicated at time, keeping it a secret but the order knows and now I'm sure the DA will know but it must not get out. We can't have Voldemort finding out about it. Now then what was this vision."  
  
This jolted Harry out of his shock. He told the two Professors about what he had seen and heard. "I woke up just after seeing the new recruits faces." He told the stunned Professors.  
  
"And who were they?" McGonagall asked as she set down her empty tea cup.  
  
"Pansy Parkison, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe sir. And they mentioned that Draco was supposed to be there but they couldn't find him." Harry finished.  
  
"Albus he's got spies in the school now. What are we going to do?" McGonagall asked.  
  
"I'm more concerned that he will be attacking the school. His forces are larger than our information shows. Severus must be suspected as a spy. He is too close to me to be a loyal subject to the dark lord so he hasn't been given all of the information." Dumbledore seemed worried.  
  
"Off to bed Harry. We need to work on stopping these dreams Harry. If Voldemort figures out that you heard it from his own mouth he will find a way to silence you." Dumbledore stood and walked him to the door. "Good night my boy. Good night."

* * *

The next day Harry and Hermione set off for the DA members' houses accompanied by Remus and Kingsley. (Tonks had to go to work.)  
  
Draco meanwhile decided to get to know Ginny, who he had noticed staring at Harry.  
  
"Hi." He said as he approached the red head.  
  
"Hi. What are you doing today?" Ginny asked the boy. He was cute but she still liked Harry better.  
  
"Just thought I would talk to you. Your kind of quiet."  
  
"Not according to my family. I never shut up according to them." Ginny grinned at the comments made.  
  
"So what's with you and Harry?" Draco decided to get straight to the point.  
  
"I like him. He hasn't figured it out, he's too obsessed with Cho." Ginny sighed. "I wish he would notice me. I swear he thinks I'm his little sister."  
  
"Nah." '_Cho? That Ravenclaw seeker? Hmmm, must torment him about that._' Draco grinned at his thoughts. "He talks about you more than you think. He's told me things about you but I think he's scared of having to face your brothers. They all know him and can beat him up if it doesn't work out."  
  
"Really? I can't picture my brothers intimidating anyone. Well maybe Bill or Charlie. And I'm scared of the twins. Ok so all but Percy who is a git and really doesn't care anyway. Bloody git still hasn't apologized to my parents." Ginny gave a sad smile as she realized that Harry was probably just afraid to ask her out.  
  
"Can you imagine if Harry had a little sister? We would both be defensive of any younger siblings. He thinks I need protection. He's the reckless one! I'm not the idiot who challenges everyone within site." Draco winced at the memory of the fight at Flourish and Blotts.  
  
They were silent for a while.  
  
"Your brother seems to like Hermione." Draco brought up.  
  
"He's infatuated with her. I'm not nearly as bad for Harry as Ron is for Hermione. He just hides it more. How did you know?" Ginny seemed intrigued.  
  
"He keeps glaring at me when I talk to her. Want to set them up?"  
  
Ginny grinned evilly. "You are my kind of guy."

* * *

Harry and Hermione arrived first at Neville's grandma's house. She welcomed them into the house and sat with Remus and Kingsley chatting while the teens went to talk to Neville.  
  
Neville smiled at the sight of them. "This is a surprise. Come in. So what are you guys doing here?" he asked as they sat around his room.  
  
"Its about the DA." Harry started.  
  
Harry and Hermione explained everything to the boy and asked if he still wanted to be part of it. He signed and they told him the plan. Soon they were off to the next house. By the end of the day, all the members (with the exeption of Marietta) had signed and agreed to help. They agreed to have a meeting the next day at Order Headquarters. Order members would bring them blindfolded (Moody's orders) and they would meet and discuss their plans with the actual Order.  
  
When they returned they gave the book to those who hadn't signed. Draco signed his name for the first time as Draco Potter pledging his loyalty to his new friends, brother, and the headmaster of Hogwarts. Now it was time to put his and Ginny's plan into effect.  
  
As they sat down for dinner, Draco chose to sit next to Ron. When everyone was in conversation, Draco leaned over and asked Ron, "By any chance do you know if Hermione has a boyfriend? I think she's really good looking and I want to ask her out."  
  
Ron turned red. "You can't ask her out!" he whispered urgently.  
  
"Why not?" Draco asked as if confused.  
  
"Because I like her you git. I won't stand for her going out with you." Ron was a bit angry.  
  
"Make you a deal. If you ask her out by dinner tomorrow, I won't bother her. If you don't, I get to ask her out." Draco sat up and continued eating getting a strange look from Harry.  
  
Hermione, Ginny, and Tonks (who was back from work) got together that night for some girl talk. They were chatting about inconsequential things when all of a sudden Ginny spoke up. "You know Hermione, I was talking to Draco earlier and I think he likes you."  
  
"Well, I would hope he doesn't hate me." Hermione replied simply.  
  
"No Mione, likes likes. I think he wants to ask you out." Ginny tried to get through to the girl.  
  
Tonks gasped. "Well this just got interesting. If he asks will you go out with him?" Tonks started getting into the conversation.  
  
"I think your wrong. I haven't seen any signs." Hermione began to try and deny it.  
  
"God your dense Hermione. He is always around you. He talks to you and just happens to end up sitting next to you at dinner all the time. He's always staring at you and he loves to talk to you. He asked me a few things today. I accidentally let it slip that you don't have a boyfriend and his eyes just lit up." Ginny smiled at her.  
  
"Oh no. I can't go out with Draco." Hermione put her head in her hands.  
  
"Why not?" Tonks was unsure of what was happening.  
  
"Because Ron will get jealous and he'll hate me. I wish he'd just figure out that it's him that I want to go out with. If I date Draco, he'll never think the same of me." Hermione was almost in tears.  
  
Tonks smiled as she realized what was happening. Ginny was bating the older girl. "So what are you going to do about it Hermione?"  
  
"I don't know! Oh I just wish Ron would get some sense." Hermione was exasperated. She stood up and hurried out of the room.  
  
Once they were sure she was out of earshot, Ginny and Tonks began talking. "So what was that all about?" Tonks asked.  
  
"Draco and I decided to set the two of them up. Neither one would admit their feelings for each other so we decided to make them. He told Ron that if he didn't ask out Mione by tomorrow at dinner, he would which scared my brother so he'll ask her out. We figured we better get Mione to think Draco likes her so that she will admit to herself that she likes Ron. It works out." Ginny smiled.  
  
"Well you better be getting off to bed. We have a long day tomorrow."  
  
Ginny got up and headed for her room. She skipped happily the whole way. '_Maybe Hermione will distract Ron enough that Harry will ask me out._' She thought as she fell into a peaceful sleep.  
  
They were all eating breakfast when the first of the DA arrived. Neville, Semus, and Dean were shoved into the dining room looking dazed.  
  
"What was with the blindfolds?" Dean asked the group as they sat next to them.  
  
"Mad-eye's idea. He figured it was best if you didn't know where HQ was. I just do as I'm told." Tonks supplied grabbing a bit of toast. "You guys be good, I have to get to work before I'm late again." With that she left.  
  
Harry shook his head as he heard a crash and Tonks curse. A few seconds later there was a quick "Wotcher Remus." Then he turned to the new group of DA members. Parvati, Padma, and Lavender had been brought in with Remus.  
  
"Tonks late for work again?" he asked casually after messing up all three of his charges hair.  
  
"How did you know?" Draco asked smirking.  
  
"Smirks do not work on you little brother. Hey Dudley can you pass the bacon?" Harry was happy. It was like being back at Hogwarts.  
  
Soon the rest of the group showed up. Cho was still angry with Harry but he really didn't care. More looks were being shot at Draco and Dudley. Finally someone spoke up about it.  
  
"So Harry, who are the new people." Lee Jordan spoke from where he sat with the twins.  
  
"This," he pointed at Draco, "is my younger brother Draco. You knew him before as Draco Malfoy but he is really a Potter and actually a nice guy. This," he gestured at Dudley, "is my muggle cousin Dudley. Voldemort destroyed my aunt and uncle's house so they get to stay with me." He didn't mention the guardianship thing.  
  
"Draco Malfoy is your brother?"  
  
"Potter. Not Malfoy. Lucius was a- well as there are ladies around I can't say what I was going to say but he was a cruel bastard that shouldn't have even thought he had living offspring. He used to use the unforgivable curses on me to 'teach me a lesson.' He had me under the imperious curse for the majority of my schooling so I was unable to control what I did. I apologize for any wrongs I have committed against you in the past and I hope to make up for it in the future. As for being Harry's younger brother its only by a few minutes." Draco mock glared at Harry.  
  
"Shut up _little_ brother." Harry emphasized the word little. "Lets get on with the meeting. Plans must be made. We have to-"Harry trailed off as the majority of the order walked in.  
  
"Sir would you like us to leave?" Harry asked as Dumbledore walked in.  
  
"No this concerns all of you as well." Dumbledore stated as the Order settled in.  
  
**A/N: I'm too nice to you. I have been a good writer and updated recently. Sigh. **


	15. Fading Summer

**Chapter 15: Fading Summer  
**  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
The DA members seemed intrigued at the thought that something that all these adults had to talk about concerned them. Everyone sat around the now empty table and listened intently as Dumbledore relayed what he had found out about Voldemort's plans.  
  
The order members were shocked when they heard that the Dark Lord planned on attacking the school.  
  
"Albus we don't have enough people to defend the school!" one of the order members yelled from the back. "Not with the Dementors."  
  
"That is why I said this concerned the DA. Harry how many are capable of producing a Patronus?" Dumbledore turned to the group of youngsters.  
  
"The majority of us can conjure a decent Patronus but we've never practiced on actual Dementors. I am the only one who has done it with the real thing standing there."  
  
"how much practice do you need to be confident in your group?"  
  
"Maybe a week. They are all pretty advanced."  
  
"I will talk to their parents about letting them stay here. Here they can do magic undetected by the Ministry. I still wish for any practicing to be done in front of an adult so that no accidents happen." Dumbledore gave them all a stern look.  
  
"Yes sir." Hermione answered for all of them.  
  
"No w we must devise a plan for the defense of both the train and the school. Does anyone have any ideas?"  
  
They all began to think.  
  
"How many Order members are there Professor?" Ginny asked after a few seconds.  
  
"If I pull the ones I can out of missions we have about a hundred and fifty. So that makes around a hundred and eighty people all together. Plus the teachers who aren't part of the Order for various reasons, making a grand total of two hundred or so." Dumbledore was adding their full strength aloud.  
  
Draco suddenly looked like he had an idea. "What if we made sure that Voldemort didn't know how many we had. We can have DA members in ever compartment without anyone noticing something strange. The Slytherins would suspect something though so we could have the Prefects near them. We could also slip Tonks in so she looks like a first year Slytherin and she could defend some of the Slytherins that way. See my plan is while everyone is boarding the train we can have DA members arriving randomly and patrolling the train as if looking for a compartment. Mad-eye can stand watch near the door where he can make sure no Death Eaters are sneaking around in invisibility cloaks or using any sort of disguise charms. The Aurors can stand around the train and it wouldn't look too suspicious because the Ministry admitted that Voldemort was back and then we have plenty of parents in the order. As for the school, the moment the train sets off, many of the order members could apperate to the school. Others can stay with the train so that no attacks can surprise us at Hogsmade. The Order members who are at the school can inform the teachers and set up defenses there. From what I know of the Dark Lord he will most likely attack as the carriages approach the school so that he can use the students as a shield, so you just have to take the students in another way." Draco smiled at the thought of a stunned Voldemort.  
  
"and how would we get the students in?"  
  
"Flying. The thestrals pull the carriages right? Enchant them to fly over the forest and land on the side of the school opposite from the gate. Send carriages with Order members through the gate normally to bait the Death Eaters into a trap. It will lower their numbers with little cost to the order or the DA."  
  
Everyone was silent for a minute. "Brilliant Mr. Potter. I think it just might work." McGonagall exclaimed after a moment.  
  
Dumbledore quieted the now excitedly chatting group. "We will make further plans for the actual fighting plans while you all go and practice. Kingsley would you mind monitoring their practice?" Dumbledore turned to the bald man.  
  
"No Problem." Kingsley stated as he followed the group of youngsters out of the room.  
  
The weeks went by fast as the DA practiced and got better at attacking and defending. Draco knew many jinxes that they could learn and learned more than he taught. Hermione would spend the free time in the evenings looking up new spells to learn that would add twists to their fighting while at the same time wouldn't drain the caster.  
  
Ginny had thought it a good idea to learn a few healing spells as well (for minor things) so that in case something went wrong they wouldn't have to worry nearly as much.  
  
Ron had asked Hermione out (much to the relief of the others) the evening after the first meeting and she had agreed. They were often seen together during any waking hours of the days and often enough asleep on the couch together. (much to the amusement of Harry, Draco, and Ginny.)  
  
The Potter twins had their first birthday party ever which turned out to be a blast. They didn't receive too many gifts as most of the guests were not allowed on Diagon Alley but the fact that they had people who cared about them was enough.  
  
The boys spent the evenings playing exploding snap with their friends or talking about life in general whilst stroking their Phoenixes and Hedwig, when she wasn't hunting. The summer was quickly coming to a close and the DA members were sent back home for their last week of vacation. Remus decided that he needed to spend some time with his young charges before things got hectic and he couldn't. Dudley would be sent to a boarding school as Remus had been enlisted to stay at Hogwarts with other various order members for the schools protection.  
  
Dudley was beginning to get comfortable with the magic around him and was beginning to think that maybe Harry and Draco weren't freaks but actually just a little different. Gifted was the word that came to mind.  
  
All too soon it was time to board the Hogwarts Express.  
  
**A/N: That's a short chappie but you can deal with it. I'm writing at 3 a.m. because I can't sleep so you can give me a break.**


	16. The Hogwarts Express

**Chapter 16: The Hogwarts Express**  
  
A/N: If I finish this chapter this will be my longest story as of the moment I post. Enjoy the chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
Remus was scared. He had just gained guardian ship over three teenage boys and all of them would be endanger. He knew it would be hard keeping them out of trouble but this was ridiculous! Remus couldn't sleep at all. The full moon had came and gone and now he was a worried parent. He could imagine how Molly and Arthur felt. All but one of their children would be there. Dudley had insisted on seeing Harry and Draco off before getting on his way to boarding school. Remus still had to sign him in so they would go together to his first day of school but besides that the boy was doing remarkably well with this guardianship thing. Remus had the boy on a diet but he allowed Dudley to take one day a week off the diet. He couldn't eat a lot on the last day but he could have like a piece of cake and a decent meal.  
  
Tonks meanwhile had been busy. He would catch her stumbling in just as the sun was rising and he was drinking his morning hot chocolate and she would be off to work again in a few hours. He was starting to worry. If Tonks found out he was worrying about her he'd be a dead man.  
  
Remus figured he wouldn't be getting any sleep so he might as well get some work done. He would be going to Hogwarts as a member of the order to protect the future of the wizarding world and he might as well get the patrol schedules out. He quickly dressed and made sure his few belongings were packed. He slipped into first Dudley's room to check on the boy before doing the same with the twins. Harry had apparently kicked his sheets off and was now shivering while Draco was halfway off the bed.  
  
'_Teenagers and their weird sleeping habits._' Remus thought as he pulled the covers back over Harry and shoved Draco back on the bed.  
  
Remus thought for a moment about his friends when they were teens. Wormtail used to curl up in a ball when he slept, James ended up on the floor most nights while Sirius could sleep through anything. Well almost anything. James figured that if you dumped five gallons of ice water on someone when they were half asleep they would wake up so Sirius was usually not a morning person.  
  
Remus began to work on the patrol schedule and didn't notice when Harry joined him.  
  
"Hi." Harry said simply.  
  
"What are you doing up at," he paused to look at the clock. "6 a.m.?" Remus began to pour Harry a cup of hot chocolate.  
  
"Woke up and couldn't sleep." Harry answered as he sipped the hot chocolate given to him.  
  
"Nervous about the battle?" Remus asked.  
  
"Not really. I'm more nervous about how Draco will be received and the sorting ceremony. What if Draco ends up in a different house? What if everyone hates him? I don't know what I would do. Then there's Dudley. He's probably freaked about everything." Harry tried to share his feelings.  
  
Remus was about to respond when Dumbledore walked in dressed in his blue robe with stars and moons shinning off it and socks that were obviously made by Dobby.  
  
"You two are up early." He joined them at the table.  
  
"Sir, I've been wondering...never mind it's probably rude to ask." Harry changed his mind about asking.  
  
"Harry I am also your guardian now. You can ask me whatever you want. I can't guarantee I will answer but I will try and let you get to know me better." Dumbledore reassured Harry while taking a lemon drop out of the canister on the table.  
  
"I was wondering if you and Professor McGonagall have any children sir."  
  
"Oh yes. We have five. They are all grown and have their own children now. In fact two of my grandchildren is starting at Hogwarts this year. To be safe though they grew up in America instead of England. Minerva's family raised the children during the school year and we raised them in the summer. Sadly most of their growing was missed but it was for their safety." Dumbledore offered the lemon drops to them.  
  
Harry was silent for a moment. "Do you think anyone will get hurt today?" Harry asked the two men.  
  
Dumbledore smiled sadly. "If we could defeat the evil without any cause to ourselves, we would not actually be in a war with evil."  
  
Remus spoke up. "The most we can hope for is that none of the students get hurt. Harry I want you to promise me that you won't leave the train. It's going to be a big battle but we can't afford any of the students to be off the train. Promise me."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Promise."  
  
"But-"Harry started again but at a stern look from Dumbledore he sighed, "I promise." He grudgingly stated.  
  
"Good, now go make sure you have everything packed and get dressed." Remus sent the boy up.  
  
"Ok. One last question. What is your grandchild's name Professor?"  
  
"Emily and Natalie Clark." He smiled at the boy as he thought of his 11 year old granddaughters.

* * *

"Bye Harry. Bye Draco." Dudley said as he shook his cousins' hands. "See you at Christmas." Dudley seemed almost happy that his parents weren't there.  
  
"Yeah bye Dud." Harry stated as he grinned at his cousin. They had become closer since the Dursleys had left the Order Headquarters. Draco also said his goodbyes to Remus and Dudley (they had to get Dudley to his school) before taking a deep breath and slipping through the barrier.  
  
Harry soon followed past Moody and hauled his things (including two birds) onto the Express. Harry and the other DA members (after finding a compartment) began to wander the train. Ten till eleven it happened. Death Eaters and Dementors swarmed the platform.  
  
Harry hurried towards the compartment door and stood shooting off Patronus charms, stunning, and disarming spells as fast as he could. Then he heard a scream. He ran towards where there was a big fight in one of the compartments. Many of the DA members were wounded on the floor. A slashing curse was sent towards Neville who was frozen by the pain of the Dementors in his head.  
  
Just as Harry was about to scream at Neville to get down Draco jumped in the way of the curse. Three large slashes were visible on his chest. Harry sent off a Patronus to run the Dementors off and stunned the Death Eaters. Before he could run to Draco, who was now covered in his own blood, a scream, no two screams, reached his ear.  
  
Harry ran to help and found two small girls cornered in the very last compartment by three Death Eaters.  
  
"Hey why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Harry yelled getting the Death Eaters attention.  
  
"Well lookie here. Looks like we have a hero in our mist. Lets take him out." One of them snickered.  
  
"Aw, how cute the little boy is trying to help the little girls."  
  
"Watch who you call little you idiot." Harry raised his wand at the same time the Death Eaters did. He quickly dodged the first attack stunned two of them and just as the third spell went of f he was hit with the last Death Eaters spell. The spell knocked him into the wall and unconscious. The last thing he saw was the Death Eater fall to the ground.  
  
He woke to the two little girls shaking him. "Wake up." They chanted trying to wake the boy.  
  
Harry groggily opened his eyes. The sounds of battle still reached his ears and he jumped up. '_I have to help_.' He thought.  
  
"Stay hidden. It will be ok." He reassured the girls before returning to the fight. He glanced out the window just in time to see the last of the Death Eaters go down. It was over they had did it.  
  
'_Draco!_' the thought suddenly came to mind. Harry raced back through the train to see Hermione kneeling next to Draco's bloody body.  
  
"I can't stop the bleeding." She stated gravely.  
  
**A/N: annnnnnd that's the end of that story. :: Grins evilly::  
  
Don't kill me I'm only joking. It's just the end of that chapter. I will update quickly (I hope). Please don't kill me. This is now my longest story. This chapter was 1,387 words. Hopefully I still have readers. ( One hopes. Review to reassure me that you are there.**


	17. On to Hogwarts

**Chapter 17: On to Hogwarts**  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
The whistle for the train blew and it started off towards Hogwarts. Many order members had jumped on to continue protecting the train and Harry was determined to find someone to help.  
  
Harry heard a crash and a curse. "Tonks." Harry said aloud.  
  
"Wotcher Harry." She greeted.  
  
"Tonks you have to help. Draco has been injured and we can't stop the bleeding." Harry spoke quickly and began pulling her towards the compartment.  
  
Tonks gasped at the sight of him. "Harry I need you to go to the apartment and get the first aid kit. Bring it here. Ron go get Kingsley. He should be towards the back of the train. Hermione do you know a binding spell?"  
  
"Yes. Why?"  
  
"I need you to find the Death Eaters and bind them. Then cast the full body bind on them. Go all of you." Draco was unconscious from blood loss by now. Tonks looked around the room for someone she knew. "Neville I need you to do something for me. I need you to go to the front of the train in the prefects compartment. My bag is there I need you to look in the front pocket and find a red feather. I want you to hold it and state loudly Albus Dumbledore. This will bring Dumbledore here. I need you to tell him what is going on." Neville nodded and ran off.  
  
Ginny figured it would be best to clear the compartment and took charge. "Alright everybody out. We need space. Semus, Dean, could you guard the doors so that no one besides those we need come in?"  
  
The two boys nodded before heading to guard the door. Harry came back handing Tonks the kit. Kingsley came rushing through the door and slid on his knees next to Draco.  
  
"I can't treat this Tonks. We can't move him either. We can only try to stop the blood and hope for the best." Kingsley sighed at the site of the young boy.  
  
Dumbledore walked in. "Harry where is your Phoenix?"  
  
"Why didn't I think of that?" Harry rushed out of the compartment to where his and Draco's Phoenixes slept safely in their cages.  
  
He brought both Phoenixes to Dumbledore who promptly released Draco's bird.  
  
The bird began to cry on Draco's wounds and Harry watched as they quickly healed.  
  
"He will be week for a long time. He will not get any worse but he will need rest. You have to make sure he gets that Harry." Dumbledore told them.  
  
"I will sir. You better get back to the school to plan for the next fight." Harry touched his brothers forehead. "It will be ok little brother. You'll be fine."  
  
Kingsley and Tonks lifted Draco onto the seats so that he would not be on the floor.  
  
"We better get back to those Death Eaters. Take care boys." Kingsley said before sending Tonks out and following suit.  
  
Neville was terrified. "He-he almost d-died trying to s-save me." He stuttered.  
  
"Neville, could you maybe watch over him a bit? I want to check on the status of the other students." Harry asked the boy.  
  
"Sure Harry. It's the least I could do."  
  
Out of 30 DA members ten were injured. 7 of those unconscious and more probably had concussions. Most of the others only had a few scratches or bruises if that. Harry made sure that Tonks and Kingsley had seen those who were severely injured and the rest were able to continue their trip as normal.  
  
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had seen to cleaning the train up a bit while the others did one last check for any unbound Death Eaters. Harry found the two little girls hiding in the last compartment under the seats.  
  
"You can come out now." He said softly as he knelt on the floor so he could see their faces. "They are gone."  
  
The two little girls made their way out from under their seats and stood before him. He stood up and smiled at them. "You aren't hurt are you?" he asked glancing over them to make sure.  
  
They shook their heads. "My name is Natalie Clark. This is my sister Emily. We're from America. This is our first time in England."  
  
Harry felt his eyebrows go up in shock. "You are Dumbledore's granddaughters!" he exclaimed.  
  
They looked confused. "Dumbledore?" Emily asked.  
  
"Albus Dumbledore? Headmaster of Hogwarts." Harry waited for them to recognize the name.  
  
"He means Papa Albus, Emily. Yes why?"  
  
"I'm sorry I just found out that he had kids this morning. Then he told me your names so I recognized the names." Harry stopped for a moment.  
  
"It was nice meeting you. Now that I know you are ok I am going back to check on my brother." Harry turned and walked back towards the compartment.  
  
The two girls followed. They followed him into the room. "You have a twin too?" Natalie spoke up.  
  
Harry jumped. "Oh its you. Yeah. I only found out about him a month and a half ago." Harry looked at the girls. Both had the twinkle that was ever present in their grandfather's eyes but only Emily had the crystal blue eyes to match. Both were small for their age (though Emily was the smaller of the two). Natalie had light brown hair cut to her shoulders and forest green eyes that made you think you were lost. Emily on the other hand had ebony hair that was pulled into pigtails making her look smaller than she was.  
  
"So what happened to him?" Emily asked as she noticed all the blood on his clothes.  
  
"He got hit with a curse." Harry replied quietly.  
  
Hera (Draco's Phoenix) sung one note quietly.  
  
"Wow you have a Phoenix!" Emily exclaimed. "Papa has one too. His name is Fawkes. One of Papa's friends gave it to him before he and grandma got married. That was a long time ago." Emily started thinking to herself.  
  
"Why did you help us?" Natalie finally asked.  
  
"Because you needed it."  
  
"But no one ever gave us help when we needed it at school before."  
  
Harry was silent.  
  
Draco woke just as they pulled up to Hogsmade station. Harry helped him out of the compartment and into one of the carriages. The Clark girls would have followed him if it weren't for Hagrid booming "Firs' years over 'ere" loudly.  
  
Hagrid saw the injured boy leaning on Harry. He didn't know who it was but he felt he should help Harry get the boy to the carriage.  
  
"Need some help there Harry?" he asked over the crowd.  
  
"I got it Hagrid. Take care of the First Years." Harry called back as Ron helped lift Draco into the carriage before heading off with Hermione for another. Neville joined them and looked sadly at Draco.  
  
"I guess he has changed. I doubted him at first but no one who was acting would risk their life like that." Neville admitted.  
  
"Its ok. Just tired." Draco said from where he was laying across the seat.  
  
The thestrals were flying now and soon enough the students were entering through the back of the castle. They made their way to the Great Hall where everyone entered except Harry and Draco.  
  
"Save me a seat." Harry instructed his friends as he waited with Draco.  
  
The First Years entered and Harry handed Draco off to Professor McGonagall before slipping in himself. Dumbledore's two granddaughters offered to support him for the sorting as he couldn't yet stand up on his own. The teachers soon entered and it was time to start. McGonagall pulled out a roll of parchment and after a quick look at Draco decided to sort him first instead of last as planned.  
  
The sorting hat sung its song and everyone clapped.  
  
"When I call your name you will step forward. You will sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head." McGonagall looked at the first years sternly.  
  
"Draco Potter." She called. The two girls helped him to the stool and sat him down.  
  
"Draco is not a first year but a sixth year student that needs to be resorted due to special circumstances." McGonagall said simply as she placed the sorting hat on his head.  
  
"Oh back again are we. Ah but your mind is not tampered with this time. This time I trust you will let me do as I will. Lets see you are hurt because of your bravery and foolhardiness much like your brother. There is intelligence there as well though. You have a very good mind. And loyalty oh you are loyal and true to your brother and his friends. Difficult but your destiny and your actions tell me to put you in ..."  
  
**A/N: Sorry I just had to end it there. I had to make you at least move to the next chapter.**


	18. The Sorting

**Chapter 18: The Sorting**  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
_Previously:  
  
"Draco Potter." She called. The two girls helped him to the stool and sat him down.  
  
"Draco is not a first year but a sixth year student that needs to be resorted due to special circumstances." McGonagall said simply as she placed the sorting hat on his head.  
  
"Oh back again are we. Ah but your mind is not tampered with this time. This time I trust you will let me do as I will. Lets see you are hurt because of your bravery and foolhardiness much like your brother. There is intelligence there as well though. You have a very good mind. And loyalty oh you are loyal and true to your brother and his friends. Difficult but your destiny and your actions tell me to put you in ..."  
_

* * *

"GRYFFINDOR!" the sorting hat yelled to all present. Snape seemed angry that there was another lion in the group of sixth years.  
  
Draco stood up unsteadily. He stumbled over to where Harry and his friends sat. Harry stood and helped him into a chair where they watched the rest of the sorting. "Adams, Eva"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Bones, Robert"  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Bode, Tyler"  
  
"Hufflepuff"  
  
"Chang, Li"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Clark, Emilia"  
  
The young girl (who was obviously the smallest in her year) skipped up to the stool not the least bit frightened of the sorting. She grinned sweetly at Professor McGonagall as she put the hat on her head. A few seconds later the hat sounded a loud Gryffindor to the school. McGonagall tried to keep from smiling.  
  
"Clark, Natalie"  
  
She was not nearly as bouncy as her sister but instead almost graceful. After a moment the young girl was put into Ravenclaw.  
  
"Denar, Michael"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Edwa, Frank"  
  
"Hufflepuff"  
  
"Gerra, Cindy"  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Harrison, Helga"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Janson, Isaiah"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Kale, Kile"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Madine, Edward"  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Moon, Maxine"  
  
"Hufflepuff"  
  
"Morrison, Deck"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Naberrie, Crystal"  
  
"Hufflepuff"  
  
"Norris, Zania"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Porta, Rose"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Putt, Zack"  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Redford, Kim"  
  
"Hufflepuff"  
  
"Rinto, Mara"  
  
"Gryffindor  
  
"Roberts, Ester"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Ruban, Ian"  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Saer, Jacen"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Stine, Luke"  
  
"Hufflepuff"  
  
"Tinrow, Tina"  
  
"Hufflepuff"  
  
"Tred, Jaden"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Unden, Sam"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Von, Ted"  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Wade, Adam"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Wayne, Katrice"  
  
"Ravenclaw"  
  
"Winlow, Tam"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"West, Benjamin"  
  
"Gryffindor"  
  
"Werly, Douglas"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
"Wuton, Joseph"  
  
"Slytherin"  
  
**(That was exhausting and rather annoying.)**  
  
After the last first year had taken his seat, Dumbledore waved his hands and the food appeared. Draco ate some but not nearly as much as usual. When everyone was done the food was cleared and Dumbledore stood to give his yearly speech.  
  
"Welcome back to all of you returning this year and to the new first years welcome to Hogwarts. This year has not started out right but I can hope that it will get better. First years, as well as some of the other students, (he looked straight at the group of Gryffindors) should note that the Dark Forest is off limits. Now then there are a few other things I must discuss. If anyone was injured and not attended to during the attack this morning, I ask that you report to the hospital wing as soon as I dismiss you. Second, there will be Ministry Aurors wandering the school at all hours as well as some other trusted witches and wizards for your safety. To be sure that you are not suspected of sneaking around to break rules, any person caught wandering the halls after hours will be brought to me for punishment. The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for this year is Professor Tonks. She is an auror for the ministry that has agreed to teach for the year. With that said, Prefects lead your houses to the dormitories, Heads please lead any injured to the hospital wing."  
  
Draco stood, still a little wobbly but well enough to walk (or so he thought).  
  
They were halfway up the stairs when Draco forgot about the trick stair and got stuck. He fell and hit his head knocking himself back out. Harry shook his head and asked Ron to help with Draco.  
  
Ron hauled the boy up and helped Harry carry him to the Hospital Wing. After listening to Madam Pomrey tut at them for not bringing him sooner the boys escaped into the hall. They were caught two minutes later.  
  
"What are you boys doing down past hours? Never mind you know he said anyone. Come come." Professor Flitwick said grabbing the two boys elbows and herding them to the Headmasters office.  
  
Dumbledore looked up from his reading when the boys entered. "In trouble already?" Dumbledore commented putting his book down.  
  
Flitwick left to continue to patrol the halls.  
  
"Sir we weren't out of bed on purpose. See on the way up to the dormitories Draco fell through the trick step and hit his head. We took him to the Hospital Wing and we were just on our way back to the tower." Harry explained.  
  
"I guess I will let you off this time. On another note, I would like to thank you for saving my granddaughters on the train this morning. They told their grandma about it and she is thankful as well. Of coarse we noticed that they now follow you about." Dumbledore smiled at the way the girls were following Harry almost everywhere.  
  
"Granddaughters? You're married sir?" Ron was confused.  
  
"Yes. I don't want it getting around though." Dumbledore stated not bothering to clarify.  
  
He sent the two boys back to Gryffindor Tower where Hermione was waiting. "What took you two so long?" she demanded.  
  
"Flitwick caught us on the way back and took us to Dumbledore."  
  
"You two still insist on getting into trouble all the time."  
  
**A/N: I was going to write more and post later, but when I opened my inbox this morning there was 14 reviews. All of them for Brothers; demanding an update. So here you go. Enjoy and thanks for the reviews!!!**


	19. First Day Back

**Chapter 19: First Day back**  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.  
  
**IMPORTANT NOTE!!!! PLEASE READ!!! Ok I was just rereading the story and I realized that I had said that the twins' new friend Melissa would be starting Hogwarts in September. I will fix the last chapter later but for now lets just put her in Ravenclaw. I do have plans for her in the future. I hope you aren't too angry for the inconsistency I was a bit too focused on the other aspects of the story. Thank you. Also I would like to thank Signeus, Julie, Sweet-Sterling, and outdone-cyrusly for noticing the error. I did notice before but thank you for pointing it out so I wouldn't continue to make an ass out of myself. Alright back to the story.

* * *

**Harry woke up early so that he could go down and visit Draco. He dressed quickly and headed down to the infirmary. He was so intent on getting there that he didn't see Remus turning the corner.  
  
Crash. The suit of armor against the wall fell to the ground as Harry hit it. Remus shook his head and looked up from the floor at Harry. "Where are you off to so early in the morning?" Remus asked as he helped the boy up.  
  
"To see how Draco is doing." Harry explained.  
  
"Oh what house did he get put into?" Remus asked not knowing that the boy had been injured the day before.  
  
"Gryffindor."  
  
"Then why are you heading this way?" Remus was confused now. This was the way to the Hufflepuff dormitories.  
  
"He's not there. He's in the hospital wing. I figured I would visit him before breakfast and make sure he's ok." He continued on as if it was nothing important.  
  
"He was hurt? What happened? Is he alright?" Remus began to panic now.  
  
"Oh he's fine he just needs rest. I just want to make sure. He hit his head last night so that probably rattled him a bit." Harry just continued walking till he came to the door to the infirmary. He opened it quietly and when he noticed that Madam Pomprey wasn't there he slipped over to Draco's bedside.  
  
"Hi Harry." Draco stated as he sat up. He had woken when he had heard the crash the floor above.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
"The scars burn a bit. That's why they are still bandaged. Madam Pomprey said that they will scar despite the Phoenix tears because they were so deep but besides that I'm fine. Hurts like hell though. I think my chest is just tender. I'll be fine. She told me I could go to class today but if I get dizzy or feel like passing out I'm to come straight back." Draco explained as he got up to get dressed only to realize that his clothes were still torn.  
  
"You might want a new shirt." Remus spoke up from the door. He waved his wand and one of Draco's uniforms appeared.  
  
Draco smiled at the man. "Thanks, pop. So are you ever going to tell us what is going on between you and Tonks?" Draco asked the werewolf.  
  
"Not if I can help it. I do want to delusion myself that I have a private life. Now you better get to breakfast before it gets packed. I will be there later. I have to give Tonks her lesson plans. She forgot them back at Headquarters with all the excitement." Remus nodded to them before leaving. Madam Pomprey came into the room.  
  
"Oh good you are up. Let me give you one last check up and rebind those scars before you put your shirt on, so they won't hurt as much through the day" As she walked over Harry told Draco he would wait for him outside.  
  
After a few minutes of Madam Pomprey's fussing, Draco was finally free to go. He hurried into the hall and met up with Harry. "So anything new happening in your life?" he asked causally. He was hoping to see if Harry had a girlfriend.  
  
"Besides the fact that I now have two little first years following me everywhere? See on the train yesterday, I saved them just after you got hurt. Now they keep following me everywhere. It's really annoying. Its worse than when Colin followed me in my second year." Draco was trying to keep from laughing.  
  
"Laugh it up brother. You have your own new friend. Neville is worried about you because you got injured to save him. I've never seen him so dedicated to watching over someone. I feel bad for you." Harry grinned evilly before sprinting towards the great hall to get away from his younger twin.  
  
Harry sat down and began to eat chatting with his friends about how their summers went and what it was like to fight Death Eaters and Dementors yesterday. Draco joined them and smacked his brother on the head for the last comment he had said before running off. Emily came and sat next to Harry who promptly rolled his eyes.  
  
"Good morning." She called cheerily. "So you are feeling better? That's good. It was such an exciting day yesterday. I hope today's classes are interesting. Grandpa has told us so much about the school. It will be fun to learn magic. My sister wants to be a first year on the Quidditch team like you were Harry but I just want to go to my first days classes. I hope the Slytherins aren't as mean to me in class as they are in the hall. That would be bad. I would have to jinx them if they kept at it." She continued chattering throughout breakfast to Harry and Draco and anyone who was nearby. By the time the timetables came Harry was getting a headache.  
  
"Hey Emily. I know this guy who probably needs cheering up. He's one of those guys protecting the school. I told him about you and he said he wanted to meet such a wonderful little first year. He's right over there standing at the end of the table." Harry pointed to Remus.  
  
Emily's eyes brightened and she sprinted down the table to talk to Remus.  
  
Melissa filled her seat but was not nearly as talkative.  
  
"Thank you Harry. Thank you. She was beginning to get on my nerves." Hermione stated from where she was holding her head across from him.  
  
Ron nodded in agreement. "How does that girl know you anyway? I mean I know you are famous but that was just really annoying."  
  
"I saved her and her twin during the fight yesterday. And I thought the slamming against the wall was painful. Its worse listening to the chatterbox." He looked down at Remus and smiled at the site of the man trying to get the little girl to go away. After another few minutes you could hear Tonks laughter as Remus began to get frustrated and move away from the table. It was no use the girl just followed him.  
  
By this time Dumbledore and McGonagall were trying hard to hide their smiles as well as half of the other teachers.  
  
Harry started snickering then stopped abruptly. Ron looked at him. "What's wrong Harry?" he asked noticing his friend's troubled face.  
  
"Sorry I'm picturing what his revenge on me is going to be. He was one of the greatest pranksters in the school once before and now I've gone and tortured him."  
  
Draco suddenly sobered as well. "I have this feeling he'll blame all of us." He glanced back at the werewolf and started laughing again. "Oh well it was worth it. Hey we better go get our stuff before we're late to class. What do we have today anyway?"  
  
Harry looked at his schedule. "I have double DADA with Tonks, and Transfiguration with McGonagall. What about you?"  
  
"Same. Remember I chose a field with those."  
  
"Oh yeah. What about you two?"  
  
"Well I have those classes as does Ron. I chose the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Hermione explained.  
  
"Auror." Ron answered as the guys left Hermione to get their books from their dorms.  
  
They entered the class to find Remus and Tonks chatting about something.  
  
"10 Galleons." Remus stated.  
  
"Deal." Tonks smiled.  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow at their conversation. "You know Remus, just because you're my guardian, you don't have to follow me around everywhere."  
  
"Ha ha. I wasn't. I was having a nice discussion with Tonks I better get back to patrol." Remus squeezed her hand and left.  
  
**A/N: I'm going to try to get another chapter out before I leave. I will be updating soon just not sure when. Be patient. My brother is getting married Saturday thus my life is chaos right now. I hope you enjoyed. Ok since I just opened my inbox to a bunch of reviews I will try and get a chapter or two out in the next few days. You are screwed for Sat and most likely Sunday though due to wedding and traveling.**


	20. DADA as Taught by Tonks

**Chapter 20: Defense Against the Dark Arts as Taught by Tonks  
**  
**A/N: Alright here's the deal. I love you guys cause you review. As thanks for said reviews (at this moment numbering 123) I am giving you an extra long chapter.** **(hopefully)Let me answer a few questions and address a few issues first. Let us begin.**

**1. Signeus, I never said you were an ass nor anyone else that corrected me. I said thank you for helping ME not look like an ass. Personally I think you are great and I am happy to have your attention even if it is brought on by bordem. This story was brought on by bordem.**

**2. Sweetgirl, Some people have made the connection, some will never figure it out because they are a bit thick. (Give you three guesses who the thick ones are.)**

**3. Someone brought up the fact that sometimes I call Emalia Emily. (It takes to long to go look sorry.) I thank you for paying attention but it is like a shortened form of the name.**

**4. Shadow64, I might be wrong but I don't believe the Order of the Phoenix book said what Ron and Hermione's career choices were. My thought is that you probably read my Life after Graduation story and got them mixed. I really don't care what they do I just wanted them all to have DADA together.**

**5. Couples in this story will change randomly according to my mood. Thus I havent put much Ron/Hermione as it is. I might make it a Harry/Ginny fic, a Draco/Ginny fic, or a Harry and Draco with other people fic. It depends on how my mind decides to do it. It's full of surprises.**

**6. Last one, I will be making some of the characters I made sure to introduce (i.e. Emily, Natalie, Mellissa, and Dudley) important later in the story. I don't really know how but I do know I will make them important and thus there will be more of them.**  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.

* * *

Tonks was nervous at the front of the class but that quickly left her when she noticed that it was mostly DA members in the class.  
  
"Ok, so you know ahead of time, I am a bit clumsy. Most likely you knew that but hey fair warning to those of you who didn't. Mad-eye figured I would be good at teaching this class so I got stuck here. I am to teach you defense in one of the most crucial times in History. You've studied creatures, you've studied curses, you have probably learned a bit from the DA that most of you are in, but I am to teach you how to fight and how to protect yourselves." She looked at Draco who was the most injured.  
  
"OK. I need a volunteer. Harry, Hermione you'll do nicely." They made their way to the front of the room. "Every witch or wizard has a strong point. Mine is concealing." Tonks changed her looks a few times. "Harry here is a parslemouth and very courageous, Hermione's is her quick thinking. Everyone has their strong points and their weak points. My weak point is stealth. Harry's is well his hero mode, and Hermione's is the rules. If you plan to go into battle, you must know these and how to use them to your advantage."  
  
Tonks gestured for Harry and Hermione to put away their wands. "Say Harry was a bad wizard. If he were to send say a stunning spell at Hermione from this distance apart." Tonks had moved them across the room from one another. "What would you do Hermione?"  
  
Hermione smiled. "A reflection charm as opposed to a shielding charm so that he would be caught off guard."  
  
"Very good. The unexpected is a powerful weapon. Harry what would you do if Hermione sent a stunning spell at you?"  
  
"Roll diagonally a bit and shoot a different curse at her while she is distracted. Its easier to get through defenses when someone is attacking." Harry answered simply.  
  
"Daring yes but I recommend that you stay down while you fire off the curse and aim for the lower body. This way when she ducks it will hit her." Tonks looked at the two examples before waving her wand and making a snake appear.  
  
"Snakes are not particularly dangerous creatures most of the time. If you provoke them, they are some of the fiercest opponents ever known to man but otherwise they are harmless. Harry can use this to his advantage. If he learns to conjure snakes or the fighting is taking place somewhere that is inhabited by snakes they can warn him of danger." Tonks put the snake down.  
  
Harry called the snake to him and picked it up.  
  
"Animals can help all sorts of ways during battle. Many animals can sense danger before humans do, some can heal, and some can aide in a fight. Now someone besides Hermione name an animal that could be of help during a fight." Tonks looked towards the class.  
  
"Phoenixes." Draco started.  
  
"Very good, they have healing properties as well as they are able to fight."  
  
"Centaurs help sometimes." Neville supplied.  
  
"Not very often. Centaurs aren't the nicest of creatures."  
  
"Dogs." Ernie offered.  
  
"Excellent you are getting the idea. What is another skill that could prove useful in a fight?"  
  
"Invisibility." Hannah brightened starting the chain.  
  
"Depends on who you are fighting. If you are fighting Mad-eye no."  
  
"Flight." Padma Patil joined.  
  
'Again it depends on who you are fighting."  
  
"Animagi." Remus said from the door.  
  
"You don't count you aren't a student."  
  
"Since when has that ever stopped me?" Remus joked.  
  
"Shut up, I'm in the middle of a class. Speaking of animagi, might as well get into that."  
  
The class was happy now. Harry and Hermione had taken their seats for a while.  
  
"Animagi is a skill that only few know. It takes power, dedication, and a lot of hard work and skill. Not everyone can become an Animagi. I can't because of my metamorphic qualities. If I were to change into an animal I would have too many differences brought on by my powers. Remus here can't become an animagi because of the wolf in his blood. This changes the chemistry of his body so it prevents changes. Simple right?"  
  
Remus smiled. "If that's what you call my pain once a month."  
  
"I meant about Animagi you git. Get out of my class or shut up." Tonks glared at the man.  
  
"Fine fine. You said you wanted one of us here for the class..." Remus turned to leave.  
  
"Help me clear the desks." Tonks waved her wand and half the desks flew to one side of the room. Remus sent the others to the other side.  
  
"Ready?" he asked as soon as all the students were clear of the path.  
  
"Go. Stupefy." Tonks began their duel.  
  
Remus decided to use his agility to dodge and cast at the same time.  
  
Tonks changed to a shorter person while casting a curse a little to the right of him. Remus expecting such a thing stayed where he was and aimed a curse at her head. Tonks moved and grew at the same time while trying to cast another spell. The werewolf was too quick and Tonks was sent across the room.  
  
Tonks stood and dusted herself off. "When exactly did you get to where you can beat a trained auror?" Tonks asked baffled.  
  
"When I had to have duels for money. You forget I lived on the streets for the majority of my life because I couldn't pay the rent." Remus smiled and bowed before making his exit.  
  
"That was what was called a basic duel. It is the most common type of duel around here. Another type of duel is when you use objects to help you..." and so the lesson went. All of the sixth years present were enthralled with her class. She briefly covered each topic before moving in on the next one. Just before the bell rang, she assigned homework and points.  
  
"Alright class settle down. Everyone participated today and that's what I expect everyday. I'm giving each house 10 points except for Slytherin due to the fact that they aren't here. For homework, I want you to pick one of the things we talked about and write a foot and a half about what is important about it, what ways it can help defense, what ways it can help attack, and what the downside to it is. Due next time I see you." Tonks nodded and dismissed the class.  
  
As Tonks passed the group on the way to lunch she leaned down and whispered, "Great prank on Remus, I'd like to see how he pays you back." Before heading on to lunch.  
  
**A/N: Well that's probably it until Mon. Still look for an update and review but don't get angry if I don't update until then**.


	21. Talks

Brothers  
  
Chapter 21: Talks  
  
Disclaimer: I'm lazy so look at another chapter  
  
The sixth years were chatting animatedly about their first class of the day while they ate lunch that day. Tonks tripped on her way to the Staff table making a lot of the class laugh hysterically. Tonks turned bright red and refused to look at the students the whole time.  
  
"So when will our first DA meeting be?" Draco asked his brother, who was sitting across from him.  
  
"I'm not sure yet. We have to think about it. It has to be a night when there is no Quidditch or homework." Harry began thinking. It would be easy enough to schedule around Gryffindor's Quidditch practice because he was captain but he had to make sure no one had an excuse not to go.  
  
"Isn't it going to just take a few seconds because of where we are holding it?" Draco asked his brother confused.  
  
"No. We are holding it in the room of requirement for the first meeting. This way we can get everyone to sign and we can go over the rules before they do so. Then we will pass out the coins to those who do not have them and the following meeting will be in our secret place." Harry explained his thinking.  
  
"Well then. We must get some advertising done. We can only advertise to some though or this would be quite pointless. Any idea's how to go about it?" Ron spoke up.  
  
"Basically all of Gryffindor is invited, from there we work on other people we know we can trust." Hermione suggested.  
  
"True enough. Hey we better get going before we are late to McGonagall's class." Draco said as he glanced at his watch.  
  
They headed to the class. The class was pretty much made of the same people as the last class. Everyone was in the DA and most wanted to do something in the defense field. McGonagall addressed the class much like she did in their first and fifth years.  
  
"You have now completed your basic classes and have taken the owls. The fact that you are sitting here shows me that you are capable enough in the subject to at least have a chance of passing my N.E.W.T. classes. You have chosen fields that will require transfiguring objects normally and I applaud you for your choice whatever it may be. I will be expecting you to work hard not only on the projects that I assign for the class but also the individual projects that you will be expected to do every two weeks. The assignments will vary in difficulty and between groups and individual work. I expect you to do the projects correctly and turn them in on time or you will not pass for the year. Now onto the days work." McGonagall launched into a lesson about how to transfigure large objects into moving objects.  
  
Harry was having a bit of difficulty getting his desk to turn into a walking book. Draco on the other hand had a dancing book going and was entertaining himself by competing against Hermione. He was quite talented at transfiguration (a trait inherited from James) and was enjoying showing off.  
  
"Very good, Mr. Potter. I see that you take after your father in transfiguration. James was an expert at it, he had to be with all the pranks they played." McGonagall commented on the dancing book that now turned back into a desk before changing into a quill that was doing flips.  
  
"Thank you professor." Draco smiled smugly at his brother.  
  
"Not a word little brother." Harry commented at his gloating younger brother.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes at the two boys constant competition on who was better. She turned to help Ron get his book to walk. (She was amazed he had managed the transformation itself.)  
  
McGonagall sat at her desk watching the little group. 'Harry and Draco remind me so much of James and Lily both. Kind and loving while arrogant and stubborn. Watch out world here they come to wreck havoc.' She thought making a smile (a rare thing in itself) come to her lips.  
  
The class ended and Harry decided to have the DA meeting tonight. Hermione quickly passed the message to a person who was a member in each house. They passed the message to the other members in their house and anyone who they thought would be interested.  
  
Dumbledore asked the Potters for a meeting with him and Tonks before the meeting to go over the rules he had set down for the meetings. After they were dismissed Harry, Draco, and Tonks headed to the room of requirement finding that they were the last to arrive. Harry stood and took a deep breath before he began to speak.  
  
A/N I know its short but I sort of am at loss for a bit on what to write. I'll update quicker now that I got this out. (hopefully). Until next time. 


	22. The First Meeting

**Chapter 22: The meeting  
**  
**Disclaimer: Do I really need to go over it again?**

**

* * *

**  
Harry looked at the group around him. Many had been his friends since his first day of school and would continue to support him. Others he had never even met but they apparently trusted him and his friends. Harry caught Draco's eye before starting to speak.  
  
"Some of you were members of the DA when we established it last year. At the time we were just doing it because Voldemort was back and we wanted to learn to defend ourselves. Now we plan to take a more offensive role in the fight. I know it will be hard at times, but now is when we need to take action." Harry said as he thought about everything that had happened since Voldemort's rebirth. "You were on the train. We fought to protect each other and we succeeded. Some of us ended up hurt, some almost killed, but we saved those who couldn't protect themselves. More attacks are bound to happen. Voldemort now knows that we are willing to fight and that Dumbledore's weakness is this school. That is why we have to learn to take care of ourselves and others. This year, we have a few rules. Because we are taking action, we cannot have any traitors in our group. To prevent this, Dumbledore has created a book that you will have to sign to become a member. I will explain more about that later. First we have some rules the Headmaster has laid down for the DA. Hermione?" Harry called Hermione up to explain the rules that were already established.  
  
After everything was explained Harry held out a quill and gestured to the open book. "Anyone who does not sign will know nothing of the meetings, the meeting place, or any of the members. If you sign, you are agreeing to the rules we explained. Also we need to elect a secretary, and a leader for the group." Harry gestured to Ron who sat on the end to get the pieces of parchment.  
  
"if everyone will put the name of a leader and a secretary on the parchments, we can count the votes." Harry sat down to vote himself.  
  
Draco smiled at his brother. 'He doesn't honestly believe that he won't be voted does he?' he thought to himself. Draco filled out his parchment and Tonks took them up to count them. She added up the votes.  
  
"Alright the results are as such. A unanimous vote for Hermione Granger as Secretary and with the exception of one vote, a unanimous vote for Harry Potter as leader." Tonks looked at him. "I'm going to guess who the one vote is." Tonks rolled her eyes at Harry.  
  
Harry decided that they should conclude the meeting. He dismissed them telling them that they must sign the book before they would be notified of the next meeting. Harry joined Draco in watching people sign after a minute or two.  
  
Draco looked at his brother. "So what's next?" It was such a small question but Harry didn't know how to answer. There was so much they had to do to get ready to fight Voldemort. Just as he was about to answer though he was stopped by a voice.  
  
"Hi Harry." Little Emily chirped.  
  
Harry mentally slapped himself. He should have known they would have come, they were Dumbledore's grandkids after all.  
  
"Hullo." He mumbled quietly.  
  
"So what are you going to teach us at the first meeting?" Natalie asked the black haired boy.  
  
Draco snickered from his seat next to him. This proved to be a mistake because the twins turned their attention on him.  
  
"Hi. My name is Emily. I hope you remember me. You are Harry's twin right? That is so cool. I like being a twin..." and thus her babbling began. Harry slipped away while the girls were occupied only to run into Melissa.  
  
"Wasn't that a little cruel? You left Draco with them." Melissa looked at the boy with pity. "You should hear Natalie at night. She is just as bad as her sister." Melissa rolled her eyes as she heard Natalie join her sister in jabbering non-stop.  
  
Harry smiled and went to rescue his brother from the two girls. Harry, Draco, and the rest of the Gryffindor boys headed towards Gryffindor tower.  
  
They were just about there when Draco heard his name.  
  
"Draco Potter. Honestly you are so thick some times. Lets put the clues together, he's the same age as Harry, he needed to change houses, meaning that he was here before under a different name because if he was a transfer student, he would need to be sorted for the first time and McGonagall specifically said that he was being resorted. Another thing is that Draco Malfoy isn't here anymore, its unlikely that its just a coincedence that his name is Draco. I mean how many Dracos are there in the magical world. Not many that is for sure." A ravenclaw 7th year tried to explain to her friend.  
  
"So what are you saying?" the younger friend asked.  
  
"I'm saying, Draco Potter was once Draco Malfoy." The girl said. Harry grabbed Draco and took him up to the dormitories.  
  
"They figured it out." He stated blankly in disbelief.  
  
"You thought that it would stay a secret forever? Brother of mine, it is obvious. Its not like most people care." Harry tried to reassure his brother as they got ready for bed.  
  
Draco shrugged. "I guess your right. Goodnight all." He called to the other boys.  
  
"Goodnight." They all fell into a blissful sleep.

* * *

But Harry was wrong. Three Slytherins had also overheard the Ravenclaw's discovery.  
  
"One of us must go and inform the Dark Lord. He will want to know about the potter twins and their little secret." The Slytherins laughed evilly.

* * *

**A/N: and.... That's it for that chapter. Hope you enjoyed. **


	23. Changes

**Chapter 23: Changes**  
  
The week progressed quickly until Thursday came around. The potter twins had potions. It was a class to remember.  
  
The Slytherins had informed the Dark Lord of the new development and received instructions to either kill one or both of the boys or bring one or both to him. The Slytherins had made a plan. It was too difficult to do anything to either of them if they were fully aware and always surrounded by teachers and aurors so they had thought of a plan.

* * *

"Potter! Pay attention to what you are doing! It is a miracle that you managed to get an O for potions when you can't even manage a simple mind clearing potion. 10 points from Gryffindor." Snape yelled at Harry who rolled his eyes when Snape turned his back.  
  
Snape continued to prowl as the Slytherins snickered. Draco, Ron, and Harry were the only Gryffindors stupid enough to get into potions. There was one Hufflepuff, Ernie, and one or two Ravenclaws. The rest of the class was made up of Slytherins.  
  
Snape was furious that not only did he have one potter in his class but both. This made for an even crankier Snape (which was not good for the Gryffindors).  
  
No one seemed to notice one of the Slytherins slipping a chocolate frog into each of the twins' pockets. Class ended with Gryffindor only loosing thirty points (a miracle in itself). The three boys headed towards dinner.  
  
Ron told them he was going to meet Hermione and ran off.  
  
"I'm so hungry." Draco mumbled as he searched his pockets for anything to snack on. Harry began searching his pockets as well to see if he had anything to give Draco.  
  
Draco and Harry pulled out the chocolate frogs and began munching on them on the way to the Great Hall.  
  
They sat to eat next to Dean, Semus, and Neville while they ate. (Ron and Hermione were still missing). They chatted about how their classes for the day went and were soon joined by Ron and Hermione. Draco stood to leave, claiming to have work to research, and paused.  
  
"What's wrong Draco?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I don't know, I just feel weird all of a sudden." Draco mumbled struggling to refind his seat. Harry was now looking noticibly pale as well.  
  
"I don't feel good either. Maybe it was those chocolate frogs on an empty stomach. I'm going to go to the hospital wing. Coming with me Draco?" Harry asked as he stood and stumbled towards the door.  
  
Just then both Potters were encompassed in a bright light. Then a scream was heard.  
  
"What the-?"  
  
"Where did they go?"  
  
"What happened to them?"

**(You don't know how tempting it was to end it here)**

Whaaaaa!!!!  
  
The cry broke through one of the piles of robes. "Mama?" came the call from the other.  
  
McGonagall went over to investigate what had happened. Just as she reached the pile of robes, a head popped up. It was Harry without a doubt, just smaller and scared.  
  
"Hi there little one." She greeted kindly gesturing for the Gryffindors to retrieve Draco.  
  
Hermione put a shrinking charm on Draco's robes so they would fit him and picked him up.  
  
"Where mama?" he asked her as she picked him up.  
  
Hermione was speechless. She couldn't tell him the truth. "Mama's not here Draco. We are going to take care of you for a bit. Is that Ok?" she asked the small boy.  
  
Draco seemed to think a bit. "Can I have candy?" he asked simply.  
  
"If you're good." Hermione replied easily.  
  
"Ok then." Draco grinned at the prospect of sweets.  
  
Harry on the other hand wasn't as easy to convince. "Harry, if you will just come out from under the table I'll let you play with some toys."  
  
"I not allowed." Harry stated looking at the lady in the weird clothes then around to see if the Dursleys would pop out and throw him in the cupboard for wandering off.  
  
"Your aunt and uncle aren't here little one. I'll let you play with toys and you don't ever have to go back to them." McGonagall was shocked at the boys response but continued to try and convince the boy to come out from where he was hiding under Gryffindor table.  
  
The boy seemed to think about it. "Scawy." He stated past the hand he had taken to chewing on in fright.  
  
"No one will hurt you little one. I will make sure of it." Draco seemed to be studying the other boy.  
  
Soon he began to struggle to get down. "Down." He told the bushy haired girl.  
  
Hermione complied and Draco went to look under the table.  
  
"Hi." He cheerily greeted Harry.  
  
Harry looked at the boy for a bit. "Who you?" he asked taking his hand out of his mouth.  
  
"Dwaco. Lady said I cowd have candy. Want?"  
  
"I not allowed. I bad." Harry edged closer to Draco nonetheless.  
  
"Lady said Mama not here. Where you Mama?" Draco was confused about where they were and why the little boy was so afraid.  
  
"She no want me. I wiv with Aunty, Unky, and Dudy. Aunty says I a bad boy. That why mommy and daddy no want me and no candy and no toys."  
  
McGonagall was watching quietly now as the two boys talked.  
  
In fact, everyone was.  
  
Hermione now knelt down to look at the two boys. She held out her hand to Harry and Draco. Draco looked at Harry and grabbed his hand. "Come." He said as he took Hermione's hand.  
  
Hermione picked up both boy and carried them to the headmaster. Harry started clinging to her when he saw all the students around, all staring at him.  
  
"Well what are we going to do with you two? This won't do at all." Dumbledore offered both boys a lollipop. Draco greedily accepted but Harry just buried his face in Hermione's chest.  
  
McGonagall looked at the students in the Great Hall. "If you are through eating you may proceed to your dormitories." She stated taking action.  
  
The students grumbled and headed off with the exception of the Ron who went to see the two infants. By now, Remus and Tonks had joined them.  
  
Harry was staring at Remus in concentration for a minute or two before yelling, "Moony!" and jumping towards the man.  
  
"Its amazing that he remembers you." Dumbledore commented at the werewolf who was now holding the bouncing toddler.  
  
Tonks was trying to keep from laughing as the boy clung tightly to the only person he knew. "Where Pafud?" he asked quietly wanting to play with the man.  
  
Tears filled Remus' eyes at the mention of Sirius. "He's not here Harry. He's not here."  
  
The boy looked at him. "Did Pafud go 'way cause I bad too? Will you go 'way?" Harry looked at the man.  
  
Remus sat Harry on the floor and sat in front of him. "You aren't a bad boy Harry. You are a good boy. Padfoot isn't here because he can't be."  
  
"Why mommy and daddy gone if I not bad?"  
  
"Mommy and Daddy loved you very much. They didn't leave because you were bad, they left because bad people hurt them so much. They went somewhere where they wouldn't hurt anymore. They wanted to stay with you but they couldn't. You are a good boy, Harry." Remus hugged the boy.  
  
"Will you go 'way too?" Harry asked clinging to the man.  
  
"No Harry. I won't. I will be there for you." Harry Smiled at this and snuggled into the man's arms trustingly.  
  
Dumbledore looked at Remus. "I guess you can watch them while they are small." He addressed the main issue.  
  
"I'm sorry sir, but I can't. It's a full moon tonight and that will leave me weak for a few days. I will be in no shape to watch one much less two toddlers." Remus looked sad at the fact but he refused to endanger the two boys.  
  
"Ok then who will volunteer to watch them?" Dumbledore asked the group.  
  
"I will watch them when I'm not in class professor. They could stay with me in Gryffindor tower where its harder for them to run off, but I don't know what I would do with them when I was in class."  
  
They debated for a while on who would watch the two kids. Eventually it was decided that Hermione and Ron would watch them during the evenings and at meal times (whenever they weren't in class) and the staff would take turns watching them during class. Dumbledore would take the boys for at least one class a day so that everyone could have a break.  
  
With that Dumbledore conjured up some baby stuff and vanished it into Gryffindor Tower. They would decide where to keep the boys in the dormitories.  
  
Ron took Harry from Remus. Harry immediately began to cry. Remus put his finger on his mouth to quiet the boy. "Harry you are going to go with Ron. I'll see you in the morning, I promise. He won't hurt you. He has toys you can play with."  
  
Harry looked at the man with a sad face. "Pwomise?" he asked still trying to reach the man.  
  
"I promise. I will see you tomorrow. Now be good." Remus kissed the boy on the forehead before heading to his office where his last dose of wolfsbane waited as well as a lonely night.  
  
"So you guys want to go play?" Herrmione asked the two boys.  
  
**A/N: You can tell what kind of stories I'm reading too many of. Oh well you can deal with the new twist. Now then what the Slytherins are going to do, I'm not sure you can handle that, because I'm not too sure what it will be anyway. **


	24. Toddlers or Not?

**Chapter 24: Toddlers or not?**  
  
**Disclaimer: Honestly, I am not J.K. Rowling nor do I have enough money to buy Harry Potter off her. Thus I do not own the Harry Potter characters or settings. I'm just screwing with their lives.**

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The two teenagers finished their talk with Dumbledore before heading towards Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore told them that they would run tests the next day after the boys had calmed a bit to make sure they were healthy, what age they were, and possibly figure out what happened.  
  
The twin boys on the other hand, weren't happy with the situation.  
  
"I want Mommy!" Draco shouted stubbornly as he stomped his foot on the ground in emphasis.  
  
"Mommy isn't here Draco." Hermione tried to calm the boy.  
  
"I want Mommy Now!!!" Draco tried to escape the gated off area that had been made in Gryffindor tower. The play area was magiced so that children couldn't climb out or escape without an adults help.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Ron are you done changing Harry?" Hermione asked her boyfriend.  
  
"I'm supposed to do something with him?" he was shocked at this. Currently Harry was being rather stubborn about coming near Ron.  
  
"Fine then, you watch Draco while I change Harry and get him ready for bed." Ron immediately came over.  
  
"No bed. Moony." Harry said defiantly.  
  
"Come on Harry. Moony will see you in the morning. The sooner you go to sleep the sooner it will be morning." Hermione tried an old tactic for convincing children to go to sleep.  
  
Harry's eyes brightened and he took her hand before following her into the bathroom where he took a bath and was changed into fresh pajamas.  
  
Harry snuggled under the warm covers and cuddled with a stuffed dragon Hermione had given him. He would sleep in the boys dorm in his own bed that had been turned into a crib. Zeus swooped down from his usual spot on the bookshelf and sat on the baby's toddler bed and let out a note of music in greeting.  
  
"Birdie." Harry said before curling into a ball and falling asleep.  
  
Hermione turned to her next problem. Draco. Draco was being quite stubborn about doing anything. Time to bribe the little boy.  
  
Hermione conjured another dragon almost exactly like Harry's but a different color. Their dragons matched their necklaces (Hermione had taken them and put them around her neck until the boys would be old enough to not lose them.) and were designed to be soft and pillowy just for little children.  
  
Hermione looked at the boy. "If you let me get you ready for bed, I'll read you a bedtime story." Hermione offered the boy.  
  
"Me pick?" he asked looking at her.  
  
"Sure." Hermione reached to pick up Draco.  
  
"Ok Lady."  
  
Hermione smiled at his name for her. After he had a bath and was dressed, Draco climbed into his toddler bed holding tightly to his dragon. Hermione tucked the covers around the little boy and showed him a few books. He picked one and she sat in a chair next to him and read it to him. Before she finished though, he had fallen asleep under the close watch of his phoenix.  
  
Ron came in and smiled at the two boys. "I guess Draco isn't that bad. Mione, we need to figure out what happened and quick. People don't normally turn into toddlers without cause."  
  
"Dumbledore said he would check for spells and potions tomorrow. Let them rest Ron, and get some yourself. We have two toddlers to watch tomorrow as it is Friday and we have the afternoon off, so you better have energy." Hermione took one last look at the boys and headed towards her room.  
  
Neville, Dean, and Semus looked at Ron and back at the two boys. "Good luck mate." Dean said before pulling the curtains around the bed.  
  
The other two boys nodded and did the same.

* * *

"Moony now." Harry said as Ron opened his eyes. Ron jumped at the site of the toddlers face 3 inches from his own.  
  
"Lets get you dressed and I'll take you." Ron said while he glanced at his clock. 7:00a.m. "Can't you sleep a little longer Harry." Ron asked the boy collapsing back on the bed.  
  
"Moony now." Harry was stubborn, Ron was learning this quickly.  
  
Without the threat of the cupboard, Harry was sure he could do what he wanted now. This stubborn red haired man though wouldn't take him to his Moony. Yes, he remembered the man. He was always there with Mommy and Daddy. Padfoot was too. Then he remembered green light and everything changed. Mommy and Daddy had left. He lived with Aunty and Unky and Dudy. Now that Moony was back that had to mean no more Aunty and Unky and Dudy.  
  
Harry finished thinking about it and decided on another coarse of action.  
  
_Ooff!_ Ron gasped as all the air was knocked out of him. Harry had jumped onto his stomach and began bouncing up and down.  
  
"Fine fine. I'm up." Ron told the little boy. Ron leaned over the side of Draco's bed. He gently shook the little boy.  
  
"Wake up Draco." Ron called to the boy softly.  
  
Harry looked at the boy. Suddenly a memory flashed in his mind.  
  
_**"What are we up so early for?" Draco asked as he fell off the top bed and groaned in pain.  
  
"Tonight you're sleeping on the bottom so you won't make so much noise in the morning. If you want food you better get up. The Dursleys wake in thirty minutes and will make us start working right away so get up." Harry went to the window and looked out just in time to see four owls approaching.  
  
"Food has arrived. Get off your bum and help me unload this food. We have to get it stashed before the Dursleys wake."**_  
  
"Dwaco." Harry mumbled. He watched the boy for a moment more. "Dwaco get up now. Hungwy." Harry said simply.  
  
Draco woke and rubbed his eyes. Ron was already gathering their clothes so they could get washed up and ready for the day.  
  
_**"Keep it down, Ron. My brother is still asleep. He's already going to be freaked you're in here anyway. Let me wake him up and then we can continue this conversation." Harry moved to hit Draco with his pillow.  
  
Draco blocked the pillow and tackled his older brother. "Trying to deprive me of my beauty sleep?" Draco asked as he let his brother up.  
  
"Hate to break it to you brother but all the beauty sleep in the world won't make you look any better." Harry ducked the pillow that was thrown at him.  
  
"Brother? But Harry you're an only child." Ron was beyond confused.  
  
"So was I." Draco mumbled from where he was getting dressed.**_

Draco blinked surprised at the memory.  
  
" 'on", he stated, reaching to be picked up.  
  
"Come on boys, let's get you cleaned up, then we can go meet Moony at breakfast." Ron took no notice of how Draco had called him by name.  
  
The boys followed him to the bathroom.

* * *

**A/N: Oooh. They are getting flashes of memories from their adult life. How do you think this will affect their time as children? And the Slytherins plan? It will complicate things a lot more. **


	25. Findings

**Chapter 25: Findings**  
  
**Disclaimer: Look at other chapters I'm lazy.**  
  
Ron somehow managed to get the two boys ready for the day and dressed in clean clothes. He dressed himself and packed his book bag. After grabbing a few things and putting them in a bag for the boys, he slung both bags onto his shoulders and took each boy by the hand.  
  
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Draco went running to Hermione to greet her. "Lady." He said as he hugged her.  
  
Harry, meanwhile, was pouting at the amount of time it was taking for them to go see Moony.  
  
"Come on Harry. Lets get breakfast. Moony will be there." Ron told the pouting toddler.  
  
Harry immediately brightened and took the redhead's hand, pulling him towards the portrait hole.  
  
**_Harry drug Ron out of the room and into a completely empty room. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he asked the stunned red head once the door was shut.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ron was confused.  
  
"I saw the looks you were shooting at my younger brother. You looked ready to kill him."  
  
"I don't trust him, Harry. How can you? According to what you've said, you've only known him for a few days."_**  
  
The memory flashed in his mind. Harry stopped for a second to shake his head before continuing towards the entrance.  
  
Ron noticed the strange behavior. 'Have to mention that to Dumbledore.'  
  
The group made good time to the Great Hall and Harry couldn't have been happier. Ron let go of the boy when they entered and watched as he ran towards the tired Remus Lupin.  
  
"Moony!" Harry yelled loudly, making Lupin's head jerk up from where it was almost in his plate.  
  
The boy jumped into the tired man's lap. The man smiled and hugged the little boy. "Did you sleep good Harry?" he asked as he made a small plate for the boy.  
  
"Uh-huh. Birdie there too. Birdie pretty." Harry commented.  
  
"Wow. So were you a good boy for Ron?" Remus smiled at the boy's almost guilty look.  
  
"I 'anted Moony." Harry spotted the food and began to eat.  
  
Draco watched this all from where he now sat in the headmaster's lap.  
  
**_Remus, who was sitting next to Harry, managed to get the plate out from under Harry receiving a death glare from the boy.  
  
"I know you're hungry but you'll get sick eating that fast." Remus chuckled at the dumbfounded look Harry shot him. "You do need to breath every once in a while as well."  
  
Harry grabbed for his plate but Remus moved it. Draco almost invisibly slid his plate toward Harry who quickly ate the rest off it.  
  
Remus chuckled and shook his head. They weren't going to feel good tonight.  
_**  
Draco blinked in recognition of the memory.  
  
Dumbledore placed some food in front of the boy and he quickly forgot about the weird vision.  
  
When the boys were finished eating, Ron and Hermione followed the group to the Headmaster's office.  
  
Dumbledore looked at both boys closely as he waited for Madam Pomprey to get there.  
  
The nurse arrived and did a few spells. "Well I have good news and bad news. The good news is they are perfectly healthy 3-year-old children and they can be changed back. The bad news is that we have to do it in small doses. Doing it in large doses can mess up the growth rate, their stability, and can mess up their minds. The first dose will be administered this evening. Both boys show all the signs of three year olds unless someone has noticed something different." Madam Pomprey looked at the group.  
  
"I have." Ron said simply. "I noticed that both of them get this far away look and stop what they are doing sometimes. They also have a remarkable recognition of some of us. Like Harry. He wouldn't stop calling for Remus last night even though from what I know, he hadn't seen the man since he was a year old."  
  
"That's true. I also noticed things they shouldn't know. Like this morning, Harry seemed to know his way around the common room." Hermione began to think about it.  
  
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. After a moment, he knelt down to look the boys in the eye. No one had told them who he was yet so he asked them. "Do you know who I am?"  
  
The boys looked at him cautiously. Draco stared at the man for a moment.  
  
**_Draco was scared as well. He had never seen the old man this angry before. It was terrifying. Draco swore he would do anything he could to keep that anger from ever being turned on him. Lucius was less terrifying than this when he was in one of his moods. Voldemort was less terrifying than this.  
  
Harry snuck a glance at his brother who had turned extremely pale at the site of Dumbledore standing in anger and the feeling of power radiating from the wizard. Hermione and the Weasleys were also shocked at the site (though not as much) and looked as if they were frozen.  
  
"Mr. Dursley, I, Albus Dumbledore, revoke you and your wife's rights to guardianship of Harry Potter, Draco Potter, and Dudley Dursley under the charge of mental abuse, physical abuse, and neglect to the aforementioned Potter twins and declare that you are unfit to be parents to any child due to such charges. If you do not sign rights over to me or to a person that I see fit to care for the boys properly, I will take this to a muggle court where you will most likely have no choice in the matter and be sent to jail. If we take this to court I cannot control where the boys will go but I can tell you I will win. I suggest you sign." Dumbledore waved his wand and the appropriate papers appeared.  
_**  
"You Abus Dum- Dum- uh. Dumbly." Draco replied after a while.  
  
Dumbledore seemed shocked. "Close enough." He mumbled as he reached in his pocket for a lemon drop for the two boys.  
  
"It appears that they still have their memories, only they are triggered randomly. I'm sure if you asked them questions about their past, they wouldn't be able to answer unless a memory was stirred up. Well then, what should we do with you while Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are in class?" Dumbledore began to contemplate his choices.  
  
"Moony." Harry said stubbornly. Everyone chuckled.  
  
"It appears he is a bit attached to you Remus." Dumbledore commented while he thought for a moment. "You need rest before you can watch them, and I have a meeting with the minister in a little while. Tonks can you perhaps watch them for a while?"  
  
Tonks looked startled. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean can you watch them until I get back Nymphadora? They need someone to look after them and I'm sure Remus can stop by your classroom when he wakes." Dumbledore pleaded with the metamorph.  
  
"Fine, fine. But if they cause havoc I will be complaining. I do have a class to teach you know." Tonks was a bit irritated that she would have to watch over the two toddlers while teaching an advanced class.  
  
"We can help Professor. We have DADA today." Hermione commented much to Ron's displeasure.  
  
Tonks smiled with relief. "I have never been happier that you have that class together." Tonks breathed out.  
  
Ron smiled and picked Draco up. "If we don't hurry, you are going to be late to your class." Ron tapped his watch.  
  
Harry gave a look at Remus before studying the odd lady with the bright hair.  
  
**_"Is it just me or is it extremely early for everyone to be awake?" he asked Draco.  
  
"No, my watch says 8:00 as well." He looked around.  
  
"Ah good you're up. This meeting concerns you anyway. Here sit down and have some of Molly's delicious pancakes." Dumbledore gestured them to some free seats. "So have you two thought about who you would like as your guardian?"  
  
"Sir I was wondering if we could have two guardians?" Draco asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore looked at the young man curiously.  
  
"Sort of like duel custody that muggles have when they get divorced." Harry supplied catching on.  
  
"Well I suppose we could arrange it. That is of course if the two parties agree. Who do you have in mind?"  
  
"One more question. Can Dudley stay with us? I mean if he has to get a new guardian can he at least stay with us?" Harry was the one to ask.  
  
Dudley stared shocked at him. "But-I was always mean to you. You want me to come with you to a new home?" Dudley was shocked.  
  
"Look. I suggested it. I know what its like for everything to suddenly change. You're going to need an anchor when the whole world flips so you really should stay with us." Draco answered before looking at Dumbledore for the answer to Harry's question.  
  
"If that is what you wish." Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"Alright then we want you and Remus to be our guardians." They had talked about it on the way to breakfast and had decided.  
  
"I accept the position." Remus said with a smile. "I had my fears but a few people slapped some sense into me." Remus smirked while muttering a "literally" sneaking a glance at Tonks.  
  
"Bloody right I did." Tonks didn't care who knew she had smacked him. She was proud of it._**  
  
Harry looked at her before trying to say the name. "On-On –Onks." Harry finally got the name out.  
  
Tonks looked at the boy. "You know who I am?" she was shocked at the boy's memory.  
  
Draco was the one who answered. "You Moony girl." He stated firmly making both Tonks and Remus turn bright red.  
  
**A/N sorry that took so long but I had writers block. Its evil you know that. Writers block is pure evil. Hopefully it's all gone now. Enjoy.**


	26. Adventures

**Chapter 26: Adventures  
  
Disclaimer: Sigh. Must we go over this again. I would think you would know it by now. I do not own the characters or the settings (unless you've never seen them before) I just like to screw with their minds and lives.**

* * *

Tonks was stunned. She never knew two children could cause so much trouble in so much time. 'Remus and I will not be having kids anytime soon,' she thought as she looked at the two boys.  
  
The boys were covered in chocolate from head to toe, surrounded by broken wood, and happily talking and playing. Tonks looked at the two boys who chose to meet her eyes at that moment. Two identical grins lit their faces making them look so cute and innocent.  
  
"Alright boys. Let me at least fix my desk. Then I will find something for you to do." Tonks waved her wand and repaired the desk. It wasn't hard. She broke so much stuff with her clumsiness, she had mastered repairing spells.

* * *

It had started the moment they walked into class. Hermione, the ever thinking one, had conjured a gate to surround a play place for the two boys. The boys were happy with this at first. Then Harry showed Draco his new favorite toy. That was when it all started.  
  
Tonks was lecturing the class on the correct way to shield ones-self from a harmful spell. No one payed attention to the two toddlers (well an occasional glance) playing in the back.  
  
"Dwaco. See Puff. Me dwagon toy." Harry held his toy out for his brother to see. Tonks had told them they were brothers on the way there and both boys had accepted it. They didn't know what a lie was much less if anyone was lying to them.  
  
Draco took the toy and pushed Harry down. "Me Puff. Me." Draco said stubbornly.  
  
Harry began to cry. Tonks stopped talking and looked at the two boys. "What's wrong kiddo?" she asked the crying boy.  
  
Harry pointed at Draco. "'e 'ushed me. It huwt. Puff mine. No Dwaco, me." Harry told on his brother.  
  
Draco got angry.  
  
"Mine!" he stated firmly and pushed Harry away.  
  
By now the whole class was watching. Tonks tried to give Harry the other stuffed dragon to calm him but Draco got mad.  
  
"Mine!" he proclaimed taking the toy from Tonks.  
  
Tonks looked at the boy shocked. "Draco! Share with your brother. It's his toy. You have your dragon he has his. Can't you two get along for just a little bit?" Tonks asked while she tried to reach for one of the toys.  
  
Draco screamed at her. Suddenly she thought of another idea.  
  
"Will you give me the toy if I give you candy?" Tonks tried to bargain with the small boy.  
  
Draco contemplated for a moment. He met her eyes after a moment of deep thought and nodded solemnly.  
  
Tonks went to her desk and took out a bar of Honeydukes chocolate she kept in the drawer for emergencies. She broke the chocolate into smaller pieces and gave a piece to each boy. That was her mistake.  
  
Draco was angry. He was the one giving up the toy but Harry still got a piece of chocolate. Draco threw the toy at Tonks and balled his little fists in anger. Suddenly there was a loud bang and pieces of wood flew everywhere. Tonks reflexively shielded the two boys from the remains of her desk.  
  
That was how she got to where she was now. Now it was time to figure out what exactly she was going to do with two toddlers so they won't cause trouble. Tonks looked at the boys for a moment.  
  
They were playing happily with each other. Both dragons lay forgotten on the floor as they took turns adding blocks to the top of the stack.  
  
Hermione giggled at the two boys. Soon the whole class was giggling at the two little boys antics.  
  
Harry looked up at the sound of laughter and noticed all the stares. He backed off quickly and went to hide under Tonks' repaired desk. Sobs were soon heard from his hiding place. Draco got angry and stood glaring at the class, trying to intimidate them, while shaking his finger at them.  
  
"No laugh. Hawy Scawed. You no laugh." Draco yelled at the class before going to retrieve his brother. This quieted the class a little. Hermione looked shocked and peaked under the desk where Draco was hugging the smaller boy and trying to sooth him with what little words he could say. "They no laugh 'gain. We pay now. 'Kay?" Draco looked kindly at his older brother.  
  
Harry looked at the boy through teary eyes. "'Kay." He said and they went back to playing.  
  
Tonks looked at the boys in utter confusion. 'These kids have more mood swings than a pregnant woman.' Tonks thought for a moment before returning her attention to the class.  
  
The class continued with the two little boys giggling happily in the background and the class virtually ignoring them.  
  
The magical chime rang and Hermione and Ron picked up the two boys, "We'll take them to class with us Tonks. You probably have enough work to do." Hermione volunteered.  
  
"No, Dumbledore said to take them to him and that's what I'll do. Come on boys, lets see what the Headmaster has for you to do." Tonks cooed at the boys, making her way to the gargoyle.  
  
Tonks knocked patiently on the Headmaster's door. No one answered. Tonks sighed and went in search of another teacher to take care of the boys.  
  
McGonagall looked surprised at the offer and accepted quickly. (Much to Tonks relief) This soon proved to be a mistake.  
  
McGonagall was of course teaching the sixth year advanced class. Ron and Hermione watched as the two boys began playing. The class was supposed to turn a quarter into a unique inanimate object.  
  
Hermione of course got it easily and turned it into a stuffed unicorn with a changing color horn. Ron soon did something similar and they gave them to the two boys. The boys of course thought that the whole waving a stick thing was funny and decided to try it. Draco, with the help of McGonagall's chair, took the Professors wand from off the desk and waved it.  
  
The boy giggled when part of the gate disappeared. Harry grinned and took the stick from his brother and waved it making McGonagall's hair change to green.  
  
No one had noticed the two boys play yet.  
  
The boys made their way out the door (which had been left open) and began wandering the halls. They continued taking turns waving the stick at things and making things happen. The boys ran into Mrs. Norris and found that if you waved the stick at her she would yelp because her tail would catch on fire.  
  
After discovering this, Draco decided to try again only this time it put out the fire as well as vanished her hair.  
  
The two boys giggled as then wandered the school. Suddenly, they shrieked as they were grabbed from behind.  
  
"Now what are you two doing unattended in the halls?" the man holding them asked the two boys. 


	27. Runaway

**Chapter 27: Runaway  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, I don't own it.**  
  
Dumbledore looked around to see who should be minding the two boys. No one was in site. Harry took this opportunity to wave the wand violently through the air.  
  
The floor turned to ice.  
  
Dumbledore fell to the ground before taking out his own wand to summon the stolen item from the boys. Once the stolen wand was in his pocket, Dumbledore looked sternly down at the two little boys who giggled as they slid on the ice.  
  
The old wizard looked around to asses the damage. The area in front of his office was completely covered in ice. Two toddlers were sliding around on the ice and he was freezing sitting here.  
  
'Best to solve this one thing at a time. First let me stop sitting on the cold ice.' Dumbledore thought standing quite easily despite his age.  
  
Dumbledore waved his wand and got rid of the ice, which in turn stopped the two boys sliding. "Now then. Where are you two supposed to be?" Dumbledore asked kindly.  
  
Harry looked scared for a moment. Dumbledore just waited for an answer. Harry burst into tears and began wailing loudly.  
  
Draco looked like he was about to join his brother in this act. Dumbledore was confused. All he had done was ask them where they had come from.  
  
Dumbledore was baffled as the other little boy began to cry loudly. Their wails apparently carried through the halls.  
  
Remus, who was going for a snack, came sliding around the corner like the world depended on it. He promptly crashed into a suit of armor sending it crashing to the ground. The loud noise made the two boys cry all the harder.  
  
Remus slowly stood and made his way towards the boys. Dumbledore stared at Harry in shock when he promptly quieted. The boy edged closer to the werewolf and clung the man's pants while looking at Dumbledore uncertainly from behind Remus' legs.  
  
Draco continued crying. He wanted his toy back. Remus soothed the little boy before looking questioningly at the wise Headmaster.  
  
"I found them wondering the hall and they had a wand. Quite the troublemakers when they are armed with a wand. Minerva's wand no less. They started crying when I asked them where they were supposed to be."  
  
"Harry, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Remus decided on the direct approach.  
  
"'e no mean cause troble. I sowy. We just pwaying." Harry sniffled and looked at Dumbledore before cuddling closer to Remus in fear.  
  
"Oh Harry, Albus will never hurt you." Remus reassured as he rubbed the boys back.  
  
Draco was now jealous of the attention Harry was getting and screamed loudly. "You love Hawy more. Me hate moony." Draco ran faster than anyone thought the boy was capable of running.  
  
Remus bit back a curse. This day just got worse and worse. "This day can't get any worse can it?" As if to prove him wrong, thunder sounded loudly followed by the noise of students being dismissed from class. Remus rolled his eyes at the world's obvious grudge towards him.  
  
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at the distraught man. "Never test fate my dear boy, it will always win. Now let us get a few more people to help search the castle. Dumbledore led the way to the transfiguration classroom. Hermione and Ron were just exiting the classroom looking terrified that they had managed to lose the two boys.  
  
Ron was the first to notice Harry in Remus' arms. "Oh thank heavens, you found them. We didn't notice them leave, honestly. We thought they were taking a nap. I mean we got so focused on our work. We won't let it happen again. I swear it. –"Remus finally cut the boy off.  
  
"Ron. Draco ran off. He's mad at me. Do you have the Marauder's Map?" Remus was frantic.  
  
"No. I think Harry has it in his trunk though. Lets go see." Ron started towards the stairs.  
  
"No. Remus can go check, you two have to help search the castle. We have to find them. My sources tell me that they were changed this way so they would be helpless. We have to find him." Dumbledore took action after giving his wife her wand back.  
  
"Hawy Hawy. 'at me. Dwaco my bwother. Me find Dwaco." Harry said trying to squirm down so he could help search.  
  
"Oh no you don't. You can help Moony look for the map. Then we can look for Draco. That ok with you little one?" Remus asked already heading towards Gryffindor tower.  
  
"M'kay." Harry said settling down for the walk to the tower.  
  
Remus entered the common room quickly and headed straight for the sixth year boys dormitories. Remus began rummaging through the trunk looking for the item.  
  
"Whatcha lookin' for?" Neville asked as he entered the room.  
  
"The map. A old piece of parchment Harry keeps." Remus tried to explain to the boy what he needed.  
  
"Oh that. He keeps it in the bottom drawer with his photo album. I think he figures its safer than his trunk." Neville said simply before going to get his Herbology text book.

* * *

Ron was searching the halls frantically looking for a small form. He knew as much as Remus that the two boys were just drawn to trouble and they had to find them quickly before something bad happened.

* * *

Hermione was looking around the dungeons for the small form. Professor Snape had already yelled at her for not being in class but when she told him what she was doing he turned and left with his cloak billowing behind.  
  
Hermione looked in the next room only to find it filled with discarded desks and old cauldrons.  
  
This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Draco was lost and scared. He hadn't meant it. He really didn't hate Moony. Now though, he wished Moony were there to reassure him. It was scary here. It was dark and creepy. He remembered this place a little bit. Like it was a place he went often. He knew that couldn't be though, he had only been here for a day.  
  
Draco turned at a sound. Two boys were coming out of the wall, or where the wall used to be.  
  
"Well look what we have here. Did the little boy get lost?" the first one asked sarcastically.  
  
"Told you the plan would work. Now all we have to do is send him to Master all nice and wrapped up." The other snickered.  
  
"We still have to find the other one though." The first said simply as they advanced on the frightened boy.  
  
"Easy enough once we send him off. They will be distracted looking for him." The second reassured before reaching out and grabbing the terrified boy.  
  
Draco's screams were muffled by the hand over his mouth. 


	28. Childish Antics

**A/N: Ok I decided to be nice and update. Heh. You all have Alex to thank for this. Since she handles the yahoo group posting I can concentrate on updating as opposed to my usual fighting with the bloody thing to work right.  
  
A/N 2: Please read my original fic, either on the Yahoo group or on Screen name is the same. Thanks a bunch.  
  
Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, I don't own it.  
  
Chapter 28: Children's Antics  
**  
Remus activated the map and put his hand to his head. Draco was in the dungeons, alone. That boy was a troublemaker. Remus thrust Harry into the round faced boy's arms and stated simply, "Watch him will you?" before running out the portrait hole.  
  
'_What I wouldn't give to have Sirius' animagi form right now._' Remus thought as he ran as fast as he could to reach his young charge. The werewolf gasped in shock at the scene he came upon.

* * *

Draco kicked as hard as he could, trying to get away from his captors. The Slytherins snickered evilly and one of them raised his wand to stun the small child.  
  
"What may I ask are two Slytherins doing in the halls when they should be in class?" a silky voice asked from behind them.  
  
The two boys froze, then spun to face the Potions Master.  
  
"We heard a noise and came to investigate, sir. We found the kid here and we were just going to take him to a teacher Professor." One of the Slytherins lied quickly.  
  
Snape looked suspicious. Draco was fighting to get away. Snape raised an eyebrow at the two boys. "Well you have found a teacher. Hand him over and get to class."  
  
The Slytherins hesitated.  
  
"Did that sound like a request? Fifteen points from Slytherin for not obeying. Another ten for being out of class."  
  
The boys dropped Draco into the irritated man's hands and ran towards the main class. Draco began crying and trying to get away from the creepy man.  
  
"Potter. Stay still. I will take you to the Headmaster just as soon as you calm down." Snape tried to calm the boy.  
  
Draco yanked on the man's greasy hair as hard as he could. "Yuk!" he yelled as he pulled his hand away when Snape loosened his grip on the boy.  
  
Draco jumped down and kicked the Potions Master in the leg as hard as he could.  
  
Just as Snape let out a string of curses, a voice sounded from behind him. "Watch your language in front of the boy Severus."  
  
Snape glared at the werewolf, biting his lip to refrain from saying something that the boy would most likely repeat to the headmaster.  
  
Draco ran and clung to the patched robes. "I sowwy Moony. I no hate you. I sowwy. Peas no make me go wit dem."  
  
Remus picked the boy up. "Go with who Draco?"  
  
"dos boys. Dey said dey take me to Maswer. Me no want to leave Moony and Hawwy." Draco began to cry into the front of Remus' robes. "Me wan stay wit Moony and Moony Girl." Draco whispered into the cloth.  
  
Remus looked up at Snape. "Master. Do you know who he's talking about Severus? What boys?"  
  
"Not here Lupin. Get the two boys and bring them to the headmaster's office. We will talk there. You do know where the other one is right?" Snape snapped at Remus.  
  
"Of course. Meet you there as soon as I get Harry." Remus smiled as Draco snuggled into his chest.  
  
Ron and Hermione ran into him on the way there and he sent them to Gryffindor tower to get Harry from Neville while he went to get Tonks. He arrived at Dumbledore's office just as Ron, Hermione, and Harry came around the corner, Harry giggling like mad in Hermione's arms.  
  
When Harry noticed Draco he smiled. "Hi." He said sweetly to his brother who was still snuggled against Remus.  
  
Dumbledore ushered everyone into seats and conjured a play mat and toys for the two toddlers. They played happily while Snape told the others about what had happened.  
  
"So this wasn't just a joke on the boys. It was actually a plot to hurt them." Tonk said more to herself than anyone. "That heartless bastard. Recruiting children to hurt each other."  
  
Dumbledore seemed deep in thought. "For now, we won't expel them. Watch them closely Severus, find out who their accomplices are. I have a feeling there is more at work here than we know. Now then, we must keep a better watch on these two. How is the question."  
  
Tonks raised her hands in the air. "I'm not watching them again. They are way too moody for me." Tonks began to shake her head violently.  
  
Remus looked up. "I have no problem watching them but I still have to do patrols. If we could split the duties between all the staff on their off periods...we could probably keep a better eye on them."  
  
Snape's head shot up. "No. Absolutely not. I will not baby-sit golden boy potter and his newly acquired twin for any reason. They are babies. I don't know anything about babies. You will not volunteer me."

* * *

"No don't touch that! Don't color on that Potter! Potter! Put that down!!! Blasted old man and his twinkling eyes. How does he always manage to talk me into these things?" Snape muttered as he grabbed a trophy out of Draco's hand.  
  
Harry meanwhile was entertaining himself by coloring on one of Snape's potion books and happily singing a song he picked up from somewhere.  
  
Snape glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes and they would be gone. '_Thank Merlin._' Snape thought, '_its almost over._'  
  
Finally Snape got an idea. He picked up a child book from the toys that had been laid in the floor and spoke loudly. "If you sit down and be quiet I'll read this to you." Snape figured it would be worth it if he could spare his office more destruction.  
  
Harry ran to the man and looked up at him wide eyed. "You wead fow us?"  
  
Draco heard this and joined his brother.  
  
"Only if you will be good little boys and sit to listen." Snape said as he led them to a couch in the corner of his office.  
  
Both boys nodded and climbed onto the couch next to him. Ten minutes into the story, Harry had fallen asleep snuggled against Snape and Draco was still listening intently to the story.  
  
'This isn't that bad. There is no way for anyone to ever find out so I guess it is acceptable. At least my office is not still being torn to pieces." Snape thought as he continued to read the story.  
  
A flash went off. Then another. This one was followed by a laugh and a familiar one at that. "NYMPHADORA TONKS!!!" Snape yelled as he stood waking poor Harry who began to cry at the raised voices. Draco joined his brother also afraid of the yelling and Tonks went running. She had to get away as soon as possible.  
  
Snape went after her. Remus, who had come with Tonks, went to comfort the two boys.  
  
"Shh. Its ok little ones. Would you like some dinner? Then we can play hide and seek in Gryffindor Tower. Would you like that?"  
  
Draco immediately brightened and smiled innocently as if he was an angel. (We all know he's not) "M'k Moony." Draco said, almost bouncing off the couch in excitement.  
  
Harry was still crying. Remus hugged him. This was the third time in the last few days that he had done this. He would cry because of raised voices and wouldn't stop until he was completely sure that he was not the reason for the yelling.  
  
"Harry, Severus is mad because Tonks did something mean to him. He didn't like that so he yelled. He didn't mean to wake you or frighten you. Its not your fault. I promise." Remus tried to reassure the boy. The crying slowed to a stop.  
  
"Weally? I not trouble?" Harry asked looking at the man with a glimmer of hope in his green eyes.  
  
"Not at all." Remus assured the boy.  
  
Harry smiled and jumped out of the man's lap. "Eat now." He said reaching for Remus' hand.  
  
The boys joined Hermione and Ron at Gryffindor table. Snape came in sulking and sat next to Remus at the head table.  
  
Harry struggled to get down from the bench and made his way towards the head table. Hermione and Ron watched him carefully as he made his way over towards Remus.  
  
Harry pulled on Snape's robes.  
  
"What do you want Potter?" Snape snapped.  
  
"Was I bad?" Harry said, the clearest statement anyone had ever heard.  
  
Snape rolled his eyes. "No Potter you weren't too bad for a horrible monster."  
  
Harry thought for a minute. "You mad at me an Dwaco?" he asked the grumpy man.  
  
"No Potter I'm not."  
  
A pause, then, "Why awe you so cwanky? Did you no get a nap? Did me and Dwac stop you nap?"  
  
"I don't take naps Potter." Snape looked a bit angry that the boy had said he was cranky.

"You should. Moony say people get cwanky if dey no get nap. Dat why you so cwanky all time." Harry nodded in agreement with himself and headed back to Gryffindor table.  
  
Harry didn't notice the chaos he had caused. Remus was trying to keep from laughing so hard that he was turning blue in the face. Dumbledore was recieveing death glares from Snape. Hagrid and McGonagall were trying to hide their smiles behind their glasses. Everyone else couldn't seem to hold it and were either giggling quietly (Professor Sprout) or laughing so hard they had fallen out of their chairs (Tonks being the main one of these).  
  
Harry climbed back up onto the bench and continued eating as if nothing had happen. The students closest to him leaned over and asked him what he had told Snape.  
  
"I toad him dat he need a nap. Den he whont be so cwanky all de time." Harry continued eating as the Gryffindor table burst into laughter. Soon, the whole Great Hall knew and even Dumbledore giggled a little.  
  
Draco finished eating and went to talk to their latest baby-sitter as well.  
  
Snape glared at the boy as he came near. "What do you want Potter?"  
  
Draco raised his arms at the man and said "Up."  
  
Snape looked at the boy in shock.  
  
"Up." Draco demanded. Snape picked him up.  
  
Draco snuggled against the man. "Will you wead anoder stowy?" he asked innocently.  
  
Snape turned red. "No I will not."  
  
Draco's eyes began to water.  
  
Snape looked on the verge of panic. Here was a choice. Get a reputation for making small children cry or ruin his current reputation by reading a children's book to the child.  
  
Snape looked for a way out.  
  
Remus was shaking with silent laughter.  
  
"You put them up to this didn't you Lupin?" Snape accused.  
  
"Nope. I wouldn't have thought of something so clever as to have little kids embarrass you. It was all there idea." Remus defended as he tried to regain control.  
  
Draco began crying. Not only was the man not going to read to him, he was ignoring him, and yelling at Moony.  
  
"Fine! I will read you the bloody book!" Snape said unable to stand the crying. He wasn't that evil.  
  
Draco smiled and stopped crying. He stood on Snape's lap and hugged Snape's head. "Yuk!" he yelled all of a sudden. "Yuky hair. You need bath. Yuky hair bad. Moony girl aways tell us dat we need clean hair. You need clean hair." Draco pronounced rather loudly.  
  
That was it. No one could keep control anymore. Tonks, who had just recovered enough to get up off the floor, fell down laughing once more.  
  
"Shut up Moony's girl." Snape snapped at her as he dumped Draco into Remus' lap and stormed off with his robes billowing.  
  
Draco looked at everybody laughing. "What so funny?" he asked bringing more laughter.  
  
**A/N: somehow Snape baiting is fun. Don't you agree?**


	29. Learning new things

**Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, I don't own it.  
  
Chapter 29: Learning new things

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**It was official. No one was safe. It seemed that the two boys could charm anyone in the castle. Even some of the Slytherins who detested kids were tricked into giving the little boys something.  
  
The time had finally come to give the boys their first dose of the aging potion. It had been put off when the discovery was made about the memories so that more research could be done. After much research they found that the memories would come with the age. (For example, if the boys were four, their memories of being four would come.) The bad part is once the aging process started the memories would come in rushes. Mixed in with the memories of whatever age the boys were, were the memories of the current year. So much had happened, the boys would remember it quicker than the older memories.  
  
The two boys were at the moment, charming the Gryffindor girls. Hermione and Ginny were trying to cuddle the two little boys who just wouldn't sit still. They had learned a new thing that morning and were anxious to show their friends.  
  
Hermione and Ginny (referred to by the boys as Lady and Red) let go of the boys who immediately squirmed down. Draco then managed to show the girls that they had learned how to undress themselves and ran naked through the great hall. Remus tried hard to catch them but the two little boys were too fast. Tonks and Madam Hooch were cracking up at the sight of the two streakers and Remus' attempts to catch them.  
  
The two boys, thinking this was a fun game, decided to split up. Harry made a dash for the head table and climbed onto it. Dumbledore reached to grab the little boy but Harry backed up and tripped over something sending a bowl of pudding onto Snape's head. Harry continued to make his way down the table splattering the different teachers with various foods finally deciding to jump off knocking a chocolate pie onto little Professor Flitwick.  
  
While this was going on, Draco had caused quite a stir darting under the tables to hide. He apparently had just learned to tie a knot and was tying shoelaces that were undone under the table. Soon enough he darted back out and noticed the open door at the end of the Great Hall. He darted for it but just before he went through, the door slammed shut. He turned to find Remus already grabbing him and squealed in absolute delight as the man tickled him and went to retrieve his clothes.  
  
'_One down, one to go_.' Remus thought as he looked for the other little boy. An idea struck him and he waved his wand conjuring the toy snitch he had bought for the two boys.  
  
The twins immediately spotted the toy and came darting towards it. Remus used this chance to grab Harry and dress him. Once both boys were dressed and captured, Remus herded them to the hospital wing for their first dose.  
  
Madam Pomprey handed a cup of pumpkin juice to Remus for Draco and helped Harry drink a cup for himself. After the drinks were gone, both boys began to grow. All too quickly a pair of four-year-old twins sat in their place.  
  
Madam Pomprey handed Remus a pamplet on children their age, smiled and wished him luck.  
  
The two boys looked around curiously before Harry spoke up. "Why are we here Moony?"  
  
"Because you needed to take your medicine." Remus said as if that explained everything.  
  
"Why did we need medicine?" Draco asked.  
  
"To help you grow."  
  
"Why do we take medicine to help us grow?"  
  
Remus sighed realizing that this would never end. They had just entered the dreaded "why?" stage. It was going to be a long night.

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**A/N: I know its a short chapter, the next one will be longer I promise. I had a small case of writers block and I think its just about gone now. (I hope it is at least.) Until next time...**


	30. The fears and fearlessness of children

**Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, I don't own it.**

**A/N: The big 30! Yay!!! Now if I can get 300 reviews I shall be happy. =p**

**Chapter 30: The fears and fearlessness of children**

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Harry looked at the man in front of him in contemplation. The man smiled at the boy with a twinkle in his eye. Harry tilted his head as if studying him some more.  
  
Harry stuck out his tongue at the old man.  
  
Dumbledore laughed, happy to finally get a response from the boy. '_Draco is being a lot more cooperative where Remus was trying to give the boy a bath._' Dumbledore thought then listened for a moment. '_At least, he was_.' From the sounds coming from the room down the hall, Remus was having as much luck giving Draco a bath as Dumbledore was getting Harry to go to bed.  
  
"No." Harry stated firmly when Dumbledore attempted to tuck him in once more.  
  
"Would you like me to read you a story? Would that get you to go to sleep? Or a lullaby?" Dumbledore was getting desperate.  
  
Harry contemplated the old man once again. "Sing to me and Dwaco." Harry said giving his best pleading look.  
  
"Oh so that is why you won't go to sleep. You have gotten used to having your brother with you." Dumbledore's eyes lit at the sudden answer.  
  
Remus came in sopping wet with Draco wrapped warmly in a fluffy towel.  
  
"Next time, you can give them a bath." Remus said before setting the boy on the bed to dress him.  
  
After both boys were tucked in, Dumbledore concentrated trying to think of a lullaby for the two boys.  
  
Hush my little darlings  
Don't say a word.  
Listen to this lullaby  
And close your sweet gentle eyes  
And dream of the places  
Far from this world.  
Don't fret my darling children  
I'm here so don't you cry.  
I'm here to hold your hand  
To guide you through these foreign lands  
And take you to the clouds up in the sky.  
Sleep and be peaceful  
Don't wake alarmed  
I'm here to protect you  
Protect you from harm.  
Yes, my darling babies  
I'll be here for you  
So when you wake and see the light  
I'll be right here within your sight  
And hold you like I always do.  
So hush, my little darlings  
Sleep and be free  
Dream the dreams of sunshine  
And cold water streams.  
I'm always there with you  
So don't be afraid  
I'm here I'll always be  
To play with you and you will see  
The love that I made  
For you... **{1}**

Remus smiled as the lullaby calmed the boys. If he thought they were energetic before, he was wrong. He had learned in the last few days that these two boys had almost doubled in their amount of energy. It had come to the point where Remus had to have constant help.  
  
Dumbledore though was happy to help. Hermione, Ron, Tonks, and the other staff (with the exception of Snape) were happy to help look after the boys. That is until they did it once. Then they were reluctant to volunteer again.  
  
Remus pulled the covers up to cover the two boys and kissed both their heads before turning the light out.

* * *

Morning came all too quickly for Remus who was awoken by two rather bouncy little boys.  
  
"Moony! Can you teach me to fly? Can you?" Draco asked the man who was still trying to sleep.  
  
"Later maybe Draco. Please just go back to sleep." Remus tried to convince the boy.  
  
"But why?"  
  
"Because I'm tired."  
  
"Why are you tired?" Harry asked.  
  
"Because I was chasing you and your brother yesterday."  
  
"But why does that make you tired?"  
  
"Because I'm old."  
  
"Why are you old?"  
  
The boys continued to ask questions until Remus groaned in frustration. "Do you two want to go to breakfast?" he finally asked.  
  
The boys' faces lit up. "Yay!" they shouted.  
  
"Go get dressed then." Remus ordered. The boys knew how to dress themselves so long as Remus laid their clothes out first. Hermione was teaching them their alphabet and how to count (they were learning quickly) as well.  
  
Remus herded the boys downstairs where they quickly darted to the Gryffindor table to greet their friends. They climbed into their seats and began talking about anything they could think of.  
  
"Moony is going to teach us to fly today!" Harry suddenly shouted.  
  
Remus' eyes widened. "I did not say that!" he tried to defend.  
  
"Uh huh! I asked you dis morning!" Draco declared loudly. Their speech had gotten better but they still slipped up a lot.  
  
Remus looked at the little boy in horror. How was he supposed to know what he was agreeing to in his semiconscious state?  
  
Harry turned his best puppy dog look on his Guardian and stuck his lip out in a pout. "Pease Moony. I wanna learn. Weally. We pwomise to be careful." He pleaded with the man.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled from his spot. "It seems you are stuck Remus. Unless you can find someone else to teach them, but they are a handful."  
  
Madam Hooch brightened up. "I'll help. I can help you teach them to fly."  
  
Remus sighed. "Fine, fine." He gave in. He headed towards his seat next to Tonks muttering something about children that should have been sorted into Slytherin.

* * *

Out on the pitch, Madam Hooch had taken out her slowest but sturdiest brooms. Dumbledore would kill her if she let the two boys get hurt while learning, not to mention what Remus would do.  
  
Meanwhile, Harry and Draco were jumping up and down and pushing each other, their childish version of 'Tag.' Remus soon called them over and Madam Hooch began her instructions.  
  
After the twins had mounted, not noticing the growing crowd, (it was a Saturday) they took off. It was obvious both boys were naturals because they immediately resumed their game of tag in the air. Remus almost had a heart attack when Harry did a loop-de-loop.  
  
Soon they were competing with who could do what and Remus called them down, terrified that they would fall and break their necks.  
  
"That's enough flying for today." Remus informed the two happy children.  
  
"But why?" Draco started hoping to get more flying time.  
  
Remus rolled his eyes and started inside. The twins smiled and remounted their brooms. They took off and raced each other at breakneck speed towards the broom shack. When they got there, Harry went to put both brooms up and Draco locked him in.  
  
Suddenly it all came back to Harry and he began to cry. He didn't want to be in the cupboard! He didn't mean to run into Dudley! He didn't mean to eat more than Dudley. He didn't know how to stop being a freak.  
  
Harry started to quiet down and curled into a ball. If he made too much noise, he would get punished more. He really was hungry and didn't want to have to go without lunch. He curled up in a little ball, his shoulders shaking with sobs trying to get out, he would just wait here and be a good little boy until Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia stopped being mad at him.  
  
All the while more memories were coming back into his little mind. Memories of years with little food, hand-me-down clothes, and living in the little cupboard under the stairs.

* * *

Remus looked around and couldn't find the two boys. '_They must still be outside!_' the thought suddenly hit him. He bolted out the door.  
  
Draco was laughing at his little joke. He had begun the childhood tradition of sibling rivalry fairly enough. He didn't notice the crying, nor did he notice the sudden silence coming from the shack.

* * *

Draco noticed Remus coming running towards him. When the werewolf finally reached him, Draco noticed a worried look in his eye.  
  
"Where is Harry?" he asked looking around.  
  
"In there." Draco said looking guilty.  
  
"Why is he in there?" Remus asked knowing the little boy had something to do with it.  
  
"Because I locked 'em in dere." Draco admitted.  
  
Remus opened the door to find Harry tightly wrapped around himself. Anger at the Dursleys flashed in Remus' mind.  
  
Draco saw the anger in Remus' eyes and backed away. Memories of Lucius having the same anger in his eyes coming forward in his mind. Lucius always beat him for being un-Slytherin-like. '_Maybe I shouldn't have told him the truth._' Draco thought all of a sudden. '_Its not very Slytherin like to tell the truth. Maybe Moony would hit him too._'  
  
Remus scooped up Harry and cradled his little body to him. Then he turned toward Draco surprised to see him backing off with fear in his eyes.  
  
Remus took a step toward Draco. Draco raised his hands to protect his face.  
  
"I'm not going to hit you Draco." Remus reassured as he tried to approach again. Draco eyed him cautiously.  
  
"Its alright." Remus would have continued if not for the small sob from the child in his arms. "Shh, Harry I have you." Remus comforted. Harry latched onto his robes and began crying in confusion at the sudden kindness after coming out of the cupboard.  
  
Draco edged slightly closer.  
  
"Come here Draco. I won't hurt you. I'm not mad at you, you were just having fun." Remus tried to coax the child to him.  
  
Draco slowly joined the other two and Remus took his hand.  
  
They made their way up to the castle. 

**

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**

**{1} this lullaby was written by a writer on under the pen name Laenavesse. It can be found at fictionpress****. (sorry it wouldn't accept the link)**

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	31. Missing

**Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.**

**A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so long. First a major case of writers block (I think its only gone for a little bit), then school. Who knew that I would still be this busy with only four classes? Gah. I guess that's the price I pay for being a senior. Anyway... I hope you forgive my lateness. I'll try to get updates up sooner but no guarantees. =p

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**

**Chapter 31: Missing

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**

Chaos. That was the word Ron would use to describe the day. Utter chaos. It had all started that morning. 5:00 am to be exact...

Ron groaned as two four-year-old boys landed on his stomach. The boys were staying in the dorms because Remus had had patrol all night and couldn't stay with them. Tonks had flat out refused to watch them at night claiming she needed her sleep, and Dumbledore had a meeting with the Minister. This had left Ron and Hermione to baby-sit. Harry and Draco had been very well behaved and even went to bed early without a fight. The result, very energetic little boys early in the morning.

"Ron!" Harry whined as the teen covered his head with a pillow.

"Get up. We want to go outside." Draco pulled at the pillow while Harry pulled Ron's arm.

"Go back to sleep." came the muttered reply.

"No!" Draco yelled loudly. The other sleeping boys let out various groans and curses at being woken by the yelling children.

This gave Harry an idea. Maybe someone else would take them outside.

Harry made his way over to the next bed. "Semus will you take us to play outside?" he asked sweetly, gently shaking the boy.

"Maybe later Har. Not right now though. Too early." Semus managed to reply before falling back asleep.

Draco moved to where Dean slept. "Dean can you take us to play outside?"

Dean grunted not really paying attention.

Harry and Draco took that as a yes and began getting dressed. Harry, after getting dressed, returned to Dean's bed. "We ready. We meet you outside."

Dean grunted again.

The little boys headed downstairs. They met no one in the common room or in the halls as they made their way outside. Draco tagged his brother

Draco touched his brother yelling 'Tag!' before running off. Harry gave chase.

For an hour they chased each other, giggling like mad, not realizing that they were moving farther and farther away from the school.

"Harry!" Draco yelled. "Where are you?"

They were playing tag still, but Draco had lost track of his brother. They were now wandering deeper and deeper into the forest and Draco was starting to get a little scared.

"Draco? Where are you? I can't see you. I'm scared." Came the reply.

Draco looked around. He did what any normal four year old would do in that type of situation. He cried.

Harry followed suit while heading toward the sound of Draco crying. Harry entered the area where Draco was and hugged his brother tightly.

"We be ok." He tried to reassure.

* * *

Ron woke up, happy that the boys had went back to sleep. He grabbed some clothes and turned towards the little cots.

He let out a curse. "Have any of you seen Harry and Draco?" Ron asked the other boys who were getting dressed.

"Not since they woke up this morning. Didn't they want to go outside?" Semus answered.

Ron hurried and got dressed. '_They wouldn't have gone outside alone. They know better than that. Unless someone went with them..._' he tried to figure the boys out.

"Hey Dean didn't they ask you if you'd take them outside?" Neville suddenly asked.

"Is that what they asked? All I heard was mumbled voices. Did I reply?" Dean was getting his books for the morning.

"I think you grunted in acknowledgement because I think I remember them saying something about meet and outside." Neville finished.

"We better go get them then. Remus would kill us if he found out." Ron figured the boys would still be waiting for Dean to meet them out there.

* * *

A growl came from the bushes near the boys. Draco let out a whimper. Harry tried to pull Draco towards a tree so they could hide. It worked with Dudley, he was sure it would work with this thing.

Whatever it was, it growled again. Draco finally decided to follow Harry's example and climb the tree. A huge creature jumped out of the bushes aiming for the boys.

Draco let out another whimper. This time Harry joined him.

The creature had the appearance of a wild cat mixed with a wolf. Its legs were powerful like those of a lion, the eyes and ears of a wolf, the teeth of a tiger, and midnight fur, tail, and grace of a panther. It was scary looking to a grown wizard much less two four year olds stuck in a tree.

It began to climb the tree.

* * *

Ron looked around in horror. The twins were nowhere to be seen. Emily and Melissa had now joined the search and it was coming time for class.

A curse spilled from Ron's lips. "He's going to kill me." He stated more to himself than anyone else.

"Who is going to kill you?" Remus asked as he came up behind the red haired teen, Tonks not far behind.

"Um... no one. Er... I mean..." Ron's eyes darted about looking for an excuse to leave.

"So where are the boys? I plan on taking them to Hogsmade today to get them some things to do while we are doing work. I think we've had enough trouble with their entertainment methods." Remus looked around expecting to be knocked on the floor any second by the two little boys.

Emily appeared. "You should really put a tracking charm on those two. It would make this search so much easier." She said to Remus before sighing and continuing her search.

Ron paled.

"What did she mean?" Remus asked noticing Ron's reaction.

"Um. Yeah about that. Apparently, Harry and Draco came outside to play unattended this morning. Now we can't find them." Ron began to back away.

Remus' inner wolf appeared at the loss of his sons. Those were his cubs, and they were in danger.

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**A/N: I had to. It was just too tempting. At least I updated. Right? Oh and this is only the first event of the day. =p**


	32. Found

**Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.**

**A/N: Heh. I bet you didn't like the cliffie. It wasn't as bad as the one where Draco almost died. Oh well. Here is the next chapter.**

**Chapter 32:Found

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**

Remus began looking around franticly hoping this was just a cruel joke. Suddenly a thought hit him, 'The Marauder's Map!"

"Accio Marauder's Map!" he yelled. Almost instantly the map came sailing through the front doors. Remus grabed it out of the air and activated it.

His eyes searched franticly for the two dots. Remus gasped in horror as he spotted the two dots blinking madly. Grave danger, that's what the blinking meant, and the two dots were in the forbidden forest.

"Merlin's beard!" he shouted before darting towards the forest.

* * *

The chimera came closer and closer to reaching the two boys. Harry tried to think of something to do while trying to keep Draco and himself from falling out of the tree.

The chimera suddenly flew backwards into another tree.

Harry looked around hoping to find who sent the animal flying. No one was there. The animal resumed its approach. Harry and Draco began to cry.

* * *

Remus ran through the forest using the map as a guide and praying to every deity he could think of to keep them safe. Soon his keen ears picked up the sound of the two boys cries and he sped up.

* * *

Tonks conducted class (or tried to) as if nothing was wrong. She continued teaching the first years basic defensive spells and what kinds of attacks they could stop.

She noted that Emily, Natalie, and Melissa continued to glance out the window worriedly.

Tonks glanced at the clock. It had been half an hour since Remus had went running into the forest and Tonks was beginning to worry for the man.

She sighed and continued with her class.

* * *

Dumbledore glanced out the window. Hw had seen Remus go into the forest and knew why he had done such. It was often rumored that Dumbledore knew everything, but rumors are just that. He hadn't known the boys were in the forest, he would have went after them a lot sooner if he had.

Fawkes let out a comforting note.

"Thank you friend." Dumbledore stated before resuming his study of the grounds.

* * *

Remus finally caught site of the boys. They seemed to be stuck in a tree with a chimera attempting to attack. The strange thing was, every time it got to a certain point, it was thrown back.

Harry and Draco it seemed, were reflexively putting a shield around themselves without even knowing how or using a wand.

Remus shook his head and waved his wand creating a magical fire cage to trap the beast in. Harry and Draco looked up at this new development and let out happy yells.

"Moony!"

That seemed to jolt Remus out of his paralyzed state and he ran to the tree pulling them both out and into a big hug.

After a few minutes of the bone crushing hug, Remus led them out of the forest. Remus glanced at his watch after he came out of the forest with the two boys and released the spell on the chimera.

He promptly groaned. It was only 9:28. The day had just begun.

* * *

**A/N: Heh more adventures of the day coming up.**


	33. Coloring Chaos

**Disclaimer: If you've seen it, I don't own it.**

**Chapter 33: Coloring Chaos

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**

After a long lecture about not going off alone and how they could have gotten hurt, Remus decided that the boys would enjoy coloring for a bit.

He was helping Tonks grade some papers in her office (it was her off period) while the boys sat in the classroom coloring on some parchment with some magical crayons (crayons that turned whatever color you told them to and pictures became animated).

That was a mistake. Draco got bored with coloring his own pictures and decided he would help Tonks grade papers. He snuck to her desk and pulled a few papers from the stack before "grading" the papers.

Harry joined him soon and the stack of scribbled on papers grew larger.

Tonks went to grab another paper and realized that the stack was noticeably smaller. She looked around to see where the papers could have gone.

"Remus? Have you seen some of my papers? They seem to be missing." Tonks asked.

Remus looked up from the essay he was reading and answered "No." before looking around. That was when he noticed the two boys on the office floor coloring on the essays. Tonks followed his gaze and let her head fall to the desk.

"What wrong Nyphie?" Draco asked having picked up her first name (or part of it at least) from Remus.

Tonks called the papers towards her and piled them on her desk. "Why don't you boys see if Professor Dumbledore needs your help? I remember him saying something about it."

Harry and Draco brightened and rushed out the door. Remus shook his head and moved to follow. When he entered the classroom, he stopped and gasped in horror.

Apparently the boys had decided that Tonks' classroom needed some decorating help. The walls were now covered in childish drawings.

There were pictures of people walking around, houses with smoke coming out of the chimneys, a a rather good drawing of Hogwarts (for a four year old at least).

"Uh...Nyph? You better see this." Remus called back into the office.

"What is so important Remus?" Tonks stepped into her classroom and her eyes widened in shock and horror. "You'd better find them before they do this to all of Hogwarts."

Remus headed for the door picturing Snape's reaction if the boys did this to his dungeons. The thought of Snape's face made him laugh and temped him to let the boys loose there.

* * *

Meanwhile, the boys were playing tag on their way to Dumbledore's office. They knew the password (they overheard Moony saying it a few times) so they decided to surprise the old man. The only problem, he wasn't there. The boys decided they would surprise him in a different way.

They set to work on their surprise.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore whistled as he headed towards his office. His talk with some of the key order members had gone well and now he was going to have a nice relaxing cup of hot chocolate and maybe a nice game of chess with one of the staff.

He greeted the stone gargoyle and headed into his office.

He stopped suddenly. His whole office had been redecorated. His walls were covered with little crayoned moving pictures, his books were stacked like bricks forming a fort that any child would be proud of, his phoenix was ruffled looking exausted, and the portraits looked outraged at the little boy asleep in his office chair.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrow at Fawkes looking for some answer to his unspoken question.

The phoenix ruffled his feathers and turned to snub his master. It wasn't his job to keep an eye on the two little boys.

Dumbledore called Dobby to retrieve Remus while he looked for the other little boy.

Draco was snoozing with his head on the armrest of Dumbledore's chair and shivering at the slight chill from the lack of fire. The old wizard conjured a blanket to cover the boy with and began looking for Harry. He found him in the fort of books, he was asleep with his stuffed Dragon under one arm and his other hand pillowing his head.

Remus chose that moment to come in and gasped at the sight. "I'm so sorry headmaster. Tonks told them to come see you and help you with some things and they darted off. I didn't think they knew where your office was or the password so I searched the school for them. I'm so sorry. I won't let them near crayons again." Remus began babbling.

"Its alright Remus, they are just children. I do think its time they begin school though. Just the basics but its school none the less. It will keep them entertained for a bit each day." Dumbledore smiled at the younger man.

Remus shook his head. The headmaster didn't know what he was getting into.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to actually post. It took me forever to get the thing typed. I only have four classes and I still manage to have a busy schedule. Thanks for being patient with me.**


	34. Pranking is in the Genes

**Brothers**

**Chapter 34: Pranking is in the genes

* * *

**

There was a different kind of lesson being learned at Hogwarts. It didn't have to do with charms or transfiguration, divination or flying, it didn't even have anything to do with potions. No this lesson had to do with what happens when you mix two little boys, a poltergeist, and a box of pranks. The answer, it was discovered, was an event that would remain a legend at Hogwarts for many years to come.

It all started when Madam Pomprey decided that the boys were emotionally stable enough to speed up their growth and could be of normal age by Halloween. Thus Hogwarts now had two eight-year-old boys with black hair, their mother's smile, and their father's mischievous streak, running around. Their enthusiasm for pranks had not been nurtured but being the sons of a marauder, it was bound to come out at some point.

That point proved to come one Wednesday morning. The two boys had had a rough night (a night dealing with 3 years of memories of mistreatment) and were wandering to their class where they would learn basic math, reading, and writing skills. On the way to the class, they ran into none other that Peeves, the poltergeist that has been strangely missing lately.

Peeves decided to pick on the boys and dropped two balloons full of paint (originally meant for Snape) on the boys. The boys, oblivious to one caretaker and his cat, ran after the poltergeist thinking of ways to prank him back, all the while leaving bright green footprints in the halls.

Filch was the one person that scared almost everyone. Almost. It seemed that the potter's had either a lot of courage or really thick skulls because none of them really feared the man. The boys chased the ghost into an empty classroom before getting frustrated and suddenly making Peeves turn bright orange.

Harry giggled as the ghost cursed and flew through the wall. That was when the boys discovered pranks were fun.

The pranks started out rather small. Magical itching powder here, disappearing items there. Then the Weasley brothers sent a care package to 'their favorite twins besides themselves'.

What followed were a few of the most disastrous and memorable pranks of all times. The Great Hall gasped when Dumbledore suddenly began dancing on the table, laughed when Snape began speaking in Pig Latin all day, snickered when McGonagall began floating higher than even the floating candles, and almost crying in happiness and laughter when Trelawny turned into a giant beetle that people used to say she was.

The side effects seemed to last anywhere from a minute to all day. Remus was skittish all day and refused to eat. Children all around the Great Hall changed into different animals and began having different things happening to them. Nothing happened to the twins though. They laughed and joked as if the pranks were an everyday occurrence.

Remus was scared. Not only did he have a mini James on the loose, he had two of them. He wasn't really sure Hogwarts would ever be the same again.

* * *

Harry and Draco were tired. They had spent all day pranking people so now they were tuckered out. They decided it was time for a nap and curled under a tree outside. The funny thing is, they didn't see the Slytherins watching from just out of site. 

The three Slytherins slipped outside to capture the two little boys. They approached stealthily and didn't wake the two little boys.

The first Slytherin reached down to pick up the little boy. He was thrown a few feet back.

The other two snickered at him.

"Shut up. You grab them if you think it's so easy."

The next Slytherin tried and was thrown farther than the first. The doors to the castle opened and a very worried Remus came out. The Slytherins hurried for a hiding place.

* * *

Remus looked around outside for the two boys. He spotted them sleeping under a tree. He sighed half in relief half in exasperation. 

He hurried to them and reached to pick Draco up.

He was stunned to find himself thrown back from the two sleeping boys. He tried Harry.

He was thrown back again. He pulled out his wand and tried to levitate the two boys. "Mobilacorpus" he muttered.

The boys didn't even so much as switch positions.

Remus took out a phoenix feather and called for Albus.

A few seconds later, Dumbledore appeared next to Remus.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking around.

"Try to pick the twins up." Remus told Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at him curiously but proceeded to try and pick Harry up.

He was thrown a few feet like everyone else.

"Is there a charm on them or something like that?"

"Not that I know of. I think they are making a shield around themselves subconsciously. They did it once before, when they were lost in the forest."

"But that is advanced magic not something a child could do accidentally. Even I sometimes have problems with wandless protection spells when I sleep, I think someone else must have put the charm on them."

"We can try to remove the charm. It will come off if someone else put it on them."

"Finite Incantem."

Remus reached down again.

He was thrown further this time.

"Ow, Let's quit doing that. Its painful."

Dumbledore laughed. "I guess we have to wake them to get them inside. Would you like to do the honors?"

Remus glared at the old man. "I don't really want to wake up the little terrors. You just want me to reap the wrath of two cranky little boys, don't you?"

Dumbledore smiled, gestured at the twins, and said nothing.

Remus reluctantly used a spell to make a loud noise.

Harry jumped and woke. He looked around and nudged Draco. "Wake up Draco. Its time to go in."

Remus was curious how Harry could touch Draco when no one else could. He put it aside as he saw Draco slowly wake.

"What?" Draco asked as he looked around.

"We fell asleep. I think its time to eat though, because I'm hungry." Harry told his brother getting up and heading inside. Draco ran to catch his brother.

Remus stared dumbstruck at the two boys.

"It appears our future saviors are more powerful than we believed. It seems that they automatically put up a shield and only allow certain people or things through the shield. That is why Harry was allowed to touch Draco when we could not. It also explains why when they were awake and lost in the forest it repelled the chimera. We will have to watch this new development." Dumbledore's twinkle seemed more noticeable than usual.

Remus hurried after the twins.

* * *

He found them in the kitchen talking to dobby. Dobby was nodding vigorously and gesturing with his hands. This was followed by the twins grinning evilly. 

Remus made a mental note to not eat tonight.

* * *

The Great Hall was full of jumpy students and professors when the two boys entered for dinner that night. No one knew the Weasley twins had invented that many new jokes. Now they were fearful of what ever else they did not know. 

Remus was more fearful that now, because the twins' marauder genes were loose, he may never be safe again.

He had never wished more that James and Lily were still alive.

A scream of horror rang out through the Great Hall, or rather a squeak, followed by two little boys laughter. Remus stood in shock staring at what the twins had done now.

* * *

**A/N: And there ends another chapter. Next chapter will have a lot more Harry and Draco in it. Meaning another round of their conditioning, the progression to second years, the realization that they were once enemies, and other such things. Hope to finish the next chappie soon. Until then...**


	35. Back to Normal or at least as normal as ...

**A/N: Heh, sorry this chapter is so late being posted. I am a bit busy all the time now, with applying for college, doing homework, and all the other crap I have to do I haven't had time to write. Don't worry though; this is going to be a long chapter. I plan to cover a lot so I hope it was worth the wait. Now then, on to the story.**

_Previously:_

_Remus hurried after the twins._

_He found them in the kitchen talking to dobby. Dobby was nodding vigorously and gesturing with his hands. This was followed by the twins grinning evilly._

_Remus made a mental note to not eat tonight._

_The Great Hall was full of jumpy students and professors when the two boys entered for dinner that night. No one knew the Weasley twins had invented that many new jokes. Now they were fearful of what ever else they did not know._

_Remus was more fearful that now, because the twins' marauder genes were loose, he may never be safe again._

_He had never wished more that James and Lily were still alive._

_A scream of horror rang out through the Great Hall, or rather a squeak, followed by two little boys laughter. Remus stood in shock staring at what the twins had done now._

**Chapter 35: Back to Normal (or as normal as it gets.)**

Remus' gasp could have been a shout compared to the noise of the now 3 inch tall population of Hogwarts. Harry and Draco used Remus' shock as a distraction to run out the door to wreck havoc on the school. With only one full size person besides themselves, Harry and Draco had free reign of the school. Or so they thought.

They were just about to jump into the lake when Remus petrified the two boys. This was getting out of hand now. It was bad enough that they were pranking non-stop but that was nothing compared to what they could do if they were given free reign.

"You are to go up to your room. You will sit on your beds and you will wait for me there. If I find you doing otherwise, Merlin help you. I will not put up with this. Go now." Remus said sharply as he removed the spell.

The two boys made their way back to the school with their heads bowed, and their feet dragging all the way there. They knew they were busted now. Remus never yelled when he was angry. He only spoke quietly in a voice that would make even Snape wary.

The boys did as they were told. There they waited. Minutes passed, soon ten minutes had passed. The boys began to worry.

'I_ wonder what Remus is going to do to us_.' Draco wondered idly. '_What if he's like Lucius, what if he likes tormenting people, what if he hurts us. No, I don't think Remus would do that. Would he?_' Draco began to fidget with worry.

'_Moony can't do like the Dursleys'. He just can't. He won't take away our food or lock us in a little broom cupboard. Or worse he might send me back to the Dursleys'. I hope he doesn't. I don't want to go back. What if they are mean to Draco? Maybe we shouldn't have done it. Maybe we should run away._' Harry began to worry about his and his brother's punishment.

The two boys' thoughts were ceased when the door creaked open. Remus stood in the door way looking disappointed with the two boys. He wasn't angry, or even irritated, just disappointed.

The way Remus looked almost calm disturbed Draco. Lucius looked that way when he had gotten in trouble. This was how Lucius always looked just before he hurt Draco.

Draco began to back away from Remus towards the wall. Harry's eyes darted toward his retreating brother. it worried him that Draco was acting like this. Remus was not acting as the Dursleys would in this situation and that reassured Harry.

Remus began to chose his actions carefully when Draco began backing up. Remus decided to make a move to reassure both boys. He knelt on the floor so that he was not towering over the boys.

Draco noticed that Remus had lowered himself to the floor. Lucius would have never done that. Draco took a step closer to his guardian.

"Now, I want both of you to listen to me." Remus said softly. "What you did today was wrong. Not because it was a bad thing but because someone could have got hurt. What if you added too much of whatever you did? What if it mixed bad with the food and made something else happen? You need to do research before you do something like this. If someone were to get hurt you would feel bad."

Harry and Draco hung their heads in shame. "We didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. We were just having fun." Harry tried to argue.

"I know you didn't want to hurt anyone. That doesn't change the fact that someone could have. We were lucky no one did get hurt."

"If we apologized to everyone, would we get out of trouble?" Draco asked suddenly with an idea.

"No. That is part of your punishment though. At breakfast tomorrow morning you will apologize to everyone and starting now you are grounded from flying. You will give me your brooms and you will find other things to occupy your time aside from pranks and flying."

Both boys let out exaggerated sighs and went to get their brooms. It was going to be a long night.

The next morning, the twins were motioned to the front of the Great Hall where they were to publicly apologize to the students and teachers (who were back to full size).

"We are sorry that we shrunk you at dinner yesterday." Harry started.

"We know that something could have gone wrong and someone could have gotten hurt." Draco continued.

"Will you forgive us?" Harry asked the crowd. This was embarrassing for him. He knew his friends would never let him live it down.

There were murmurs of acceptance and the boys were allowed to sit down. The twins made their way to the table and sat with their heads bowed in shame. Hermione offered them some eggs and tried to avoid the topic of the apology. Ron on the other hand lacked the brains to avoid the topic.

"So Remus came down pretty hard on you huh?" he asked earning an elbow in the side from his sister.

Ron shot her a confused look.

Draco turned red at the memory of Remus' lecture.

Harry refused to meet anyone's gaze. Ron finally realized what happened and shut up. It was already too late though, Harry and Draco looked ashamed, stood up, and darted out the door.

Half way down the hall Harry suddenly stopped. Draco was about to ask what was wrong when he felt it too. It was a tingling sensation that traveled from his toes to his fingertips, completely messing up his balance while doing it. The next thing that he saw was black as he lost consciousness.

"Wake up. Come on open those eyes. That's it. That's better." the calming voice reached Draco's ears. It was a familiar voice, one that was heard often.

As his vision began to clear, Draco's eyes met the worried ones of one Remus Lupin. He looked like he had had a panic attack, but at the same time, just woken up.

"What happened?" he asked looking around and noticing the familiar layout of the hospital wing.

"You and Harry apparently passed out during the last stage of your growth, it kind of took you by surprise as it wasn't potion induced." Remus tried to explain to the once again 16 year old boy.

"Where is Harry?" Draco asked just noticing that his twin was missing.

"Oh he will be right back. He woke a few minutes ago and just nipped down to the kitchens for a bite to eat. He should be back soon."

Draco sighed with relief. They were 16 again! He had never been happier to be in the hospital wing. His sudden groan drew Remus' attention to him once more.

"What are you hurt, sore, any pain what-so-ever?" he began feeling Draco's arms for broken bones.

"I'm fine. I just realized that we have almost a month and a half of work to make up for this stupid prank."

Remus' laugh was interrupted by Harry entering the hospital wing. "I brought some food for you, I figured you would be hungry."

The boys ate and were dismissed from the hospital wings with threats of being kept longer if they didn't stay away for more than a month. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were thrilled to see the boys back to their age and began working in the secret apartment to catch the two boys up.

Aside from Snape's cruel statements, the week stayed rather cheerful and smooth (which is a shock in itself). Halloween was quickly approaching and a ball was scheduled for that night after the usual feast.

"Oh great, another ball. That's all I need. Just when people begin to forget my girlish dress robes from fourth year I'm going to get stuck wearing them again." Ron complained as he saw the notice in the common room.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "At least this year I don't have to wait for you to figure out that I'm a girl."

Ron turned red at the memory of his realization in fourth year.

Harry laughed and commented on his own situation. "At least this year I don't need to find a partner. I am allowed to go solo this time around."

Ginny looked outraged at that. Draco shook his head and looked around. "Hey Harry, you can always ask little Emily to be your date."

"Bloody Hell, don't even mention it to her. Or her sister for that matter. I couldn't stand them following me around again. Hey you could always go with Melissa, you seemed to take a liking to her." Harry teased his brother back.

"Ha ha ha. Unlike you brother, I can find a date." Draco smirked at his brother.

"I can too find a date!" Harry was outraged at his brother's accusation. By this point everyone else had gone back to their own lives instead of paying attention to the Potter Twins.

"Ok, I'll make you a bet. Whichever one of us gets a date first, and not just anyone, you have to try for a decent date, gets to pick the others date for them." Draco smiled at the thought of setting his plan into motion.

"Deal."

It was two days before the Halloween Ball and neither twin had a date. Not that this surprised most people. That was when Harry and Draco got a letter from Dudley. Curious, Harry opened it and began reading.

_Dear Harry and Draco,_

_How is school going? Not causing too much trouble I hope. My classes are harder here but its kinda better here because you can get help whenever you need it. It is helping my grades. I'm getting average grades now. I made a few new friends, they aren't like Piers and the rest of the gang. You would get along with these people._

_I figure I should tell you that I think someone has been watching me. I get this chill down my back like someone is trying to mentally kill me. I keep seeing this shadow everywhere I go. And there have been strange things happening to us here. Things are falling, barley missing me or my friends, things flying across the room almost hitting me..._

_I thought you might want to know._

_Well I have to get back to studying so write back. I hope your owl gets this to you._

_Dudley_

Harry looked at his brother with worry etched on his face. His inner hero as some called it was acting up and he decided to take the note to Tonks as Remus was on duty.

Tonks looked at the note and quickly masked her shock. "I'll make sure someone checks it out. It could be nothing but we will have to check. You two better get to class. You have potions today if I'm not mistaken and you are far behind the rest."

Harry and Draco nodded and dashed to the common room to get their stuff. They would have to spend all night catching up on their work before they fell too far behind.

They sat towards the back of the class with their friends and got their books and parchment out.

Snape stormed in the room and shot a glare in their direction. "You have one week to get all of your assignments that you missed in. I will give you a list after class and you will be expected to brew the potions on your own time." he seemed angry to be forced to allow that.

Draco cringed at the thought. one week to make up a 6weeks of potions homework. They were doomed.

After their last class of the day, the twins claimed their necklaces from Hermione and opened the secret apartment. They began working on the many different assignments that were to be completed, completely losing track of time. It wasn't until Tonks walked in and handed them a dinner plate that they realized they had been at it for days in the secret room.

"Remus says if you don't eat, he will keep you grounded for a month."

Harry winced at the memory of his inability to fly for the week. It was not as if he had time but it would be a good way to relax.

By the time the boys were caught up with their work in the secret apartment, It was almost four in the morning in the actual time. The boys slumped into their beds unable to keep awake much longer despite the naps in-between the studying and catching up on homework. The two boys were totally exhausted.

"Hey guys, you're going to be late. You better hurry up or you won't get breakfast." Ron's voice came through to Harry's sleep ridden mind. He opened his eyes and moaned groggily.

Harry and Draco dragged themselves out of bed and after some trouble, managed to get ready. The real trouble started in Transfiguration later that morning.

A loud bang was heard in the transfiguration classroom as Professor Minerva McGonagall attempted to wake the two sleeping boys. Harry slowly stirred and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "coming aunt Petunia" before regaining knowledge of his surroundings.

Draco on the other hand jumped and pulled his wand out aiming it at the first person he saw and preparing to protect himself if absolutely necessary.

McGonagall pushed his arm down and rolled her eyes. "If you are that lacking in sleep, I would suggest you see Madam Pomprey about a sleeping potion. Twenty points from Gryffindor for your lack of common sense and I suggest both of you be sure to stay awake before I transfigure one or both of you into an alarm clock."

McGonagall headed back to the front to resume her lecture while Ron leant over whispering "You should have waited until we were in History."

Hermione smacked him.

**A/N: You really can't complain that this is up so late. I posted it on the group a few weeks ago, no one bothers to check the message board though so you deserved to suffer. Hope you enjoyed. This was 7 pages.**


	36. Planning

**A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! I want to wish you all a merry Christmas and as a special Christmas treat I am giving you this chapter and a one shot what if side story. (Side story submitted separately.)**

**Brothers**

**Chapter 36: Planning**

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were working on the most difficult project they had ever taken on. Organizing the Chaos that the DA was made up of this year. The year before it had been easy. There were maybe 30 people in the whole thing and it was meant to be a secret. This year though, was the challenge. There were something like double even triple the amount of students; all at different skill levels, and with the Headmasters permission it was all being monitored.

This caused the problem they were now faced with. It was hard enough teaching people close to your age how to defend themselves without them having to either fall behind or repeat what they have learned. Thus, the dilemma they were now suffering.

"What if we had different levels of the DA?" Ginny suggested.

"Or we could have the more experienced ones teach the newer ones." Hermione said as they sat in their little meeting.

"But then, the more advanced ones wouldn't be learning anything new. They come to learn, not teach." Ron argued.

Draco was quickly scribbling on a piece of parchment while alternating looking up at the group then back to the parchment again.

Harry looked over to see what his brother was doing and Draco handed him the paper. It was a plan for the DA laid out simply.

"This is great Draco. If we combine Ginny and Hermione's ideas, we can really do something here. Ok everyone how does this sound. We divide the DA into three groups. One group can consist of the first through third years. They can begin to learn the basic defensive spells they need like shield spells and disarming. The second group can be fourth year to sixth year students who haven't already had a year with the DA. This can help us start to teach them more difficult spells and get them caught up with this years DA members. The last group, we can have all seventh years, older members of the DA and just really skilled individuals learning new, more complex spells as well as maybe getting a bit of training from Tonks. This can also be the group that helps us teach the other two so the work won't become overwhelming for us." Harry tried to explain and elaborate what his brother had written.

Hermione seemed to agree with this and they immediately began to take the names from the registry like book and group the people into the three categories. A different type of token was made for each group so that they could call meetings at any time. Just as they were about to go up to bed for the night, Harry remembered his bet with Draco.

"Hey Ginny can I talk to you a second?" he asked the red haired girl.

Ginny looked confused but nodded telling Hermione to go on to bed. Draco dragged Ron up the stairs trying to distract him from the conversation by asking if he was up for a quick game of chess.

Harry looked nervous at the floor. "You know that there is this ball on Friday and I was- er that is, I was wondering if you would go as – uh –my er- date."

Ginny stared at the now red young man for a moment before throwing her arms around his neck in happiness. "Of coarse I will Harry. Of coarse I will." She let go of her rather brief hug and skipped up the stairs.

Harry stood stunned for a moment before smiling and heading up the stairs to tell his now doomed sibling of his fate. Draco hurried into the dormitories with Ron from where they sat eavesdropping at the top of the stairs. He may be doomed to spend the whole ball catering to one of the Dumbledore twins or some other poor unfortunate soul Harry picked for him but it was worth it for Harry to be happy.

**A/N: I know this is incredibly short but I can't help it. It's that or you wait longer. I hope to update soon. I shall try for all my readers. Merry Christmas!**


	37. Preparations

**A/N: Life kinda got in the way of an update again so I have made up for it with a long chapter. In my notebook it took 21 pages but that of coarse is hand written. I had to make a few changes about the Halloween Ball to further the plot instead of keeping it as a costume ball; I made it into just a formal occasion with a little added twist from Dumbledore (to be reveled in the story).**

**That being said, here is the new chapter.**

**Brothers**

**Chapter 37: Preparations**

The day of the ball was fast approaching and Draco was beginning to worry about who his date was going to be. Harry had assured him that it was all arranged and Draco was to meet her half an hour before the ball. Harry refused to give even a hint of who Draco's date would be, instead choosing to worry about his own plans.

It became a common sight in the boys' dormitory to see Draco begging his brother for even the knowledge of the house of his date. Harry would just smile and shake his head.

At one point, Draco didn't even bother to wait until they were in the dorm. Instead he asked Harry in the common room hoping to catch the young man off guard. This plan only resulted in Ginny forcing Draco to tell her about the bet.

She was not a happy Weasley when she found out that Draco had practically forced his brother into asking her out. She vowed to get revenge on the new young Gryffindor.

* * *

Draco skidded into the boys dormitory searching frantically for a place to hide.

Harry, who was gathering his potions books to do his work in the common room, looked up at the entrance.

"What's wrong, brother of mine?" Harry said bringing Dean's attention to the out of breath Draco.

"Hide…me,…please." He gasped out. "She's…going to…kill me!"

"Who is she and why is this person trying to kill you?" Harry attempted to get a reason out of his brother.

"Hermione! Ginny found out about our bet and told Hermione that I set her and Ron up so they would admit they liked each other. She happened to forget that she played a large role in that. Apparently women don't like being manipulated." Draco had caught his breath and explained quickly.

"Draco you're an idiot sometimes. And just so you know, Hermione has been in here before." Harry replied calmly.

A panicked look came over Draco's face as the doorknob began to turn. Draco dived under the nearest bed (Harry's) and maneuvered himself where he couldn't be seen.

The other boys' laughter and a "What's going on?" from Neville brought Draco out. Draco groaned knowing as the boys began to explain to Neville (the room's new occupant) what had happened, he would never live this down.

* * *

That Halloween was a day to go down in Hogwarts History. The press had been invited by Dumbledore to witness the ball that was now being held in honor of the Defense Association, Aurors, and Order members who had fought to save the train. Classes that weren't cancelled were filled with laughter and joy. Everyone was excited about the upcoming ball and best of all, the DA was having a meeting rather than a class.

Harry called everyone's attention away from the dueling so he could tell them about the ball.

"Ok everyone, calm down. I know a lot of you are nervous about the press tonight but I just need you to listen for a little bit. Those who fought at the station or on the train will be noted today. When I give the speech I am forced to do," Harry shuddered involuntarily at the thought, "I will call each of you up front. I want you to tell me now if you want to back out from the front lines. You can still be a part of the DA but I will need to make sure you remain anonymous tonight."

Harry let the member (old and new) absorb this information.

Hermione took this time to make her announcement. "Tonight, we will also be putting forth our plans for the organization of the DA. This will be our last practice in the room, next meeting we will meet here and take you to the new practice area. This is for security reasons as well as convince. Only Harry, Draco, Professor Tonks, and Professor Dumbledore have access to this place so you best not be late to a meeting or you won't get in. As for the plans for the DA, it will make it easier to help each person make the most of the DA and we will be needing volunteers for the new arrangement. We expect you all to be well behaved tonight as any misbehavior will result in the banning, again, of the DA."

Hermione concluded her part of the announcements and Harry finished up. He explained where they were to meet before the ball and that they could all go. "Have fun tonight, it is to honor your hard work and we hope you enjoy."

With that everyone broke off into their social groups to discuss the on coming ball. Harry thought back to when Dumbledore had told him about his plans to honor the DA.

Flashback

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny entered the Headmaster's office unsure of why they were there.

The elderly wizard gestured for them to sit and waved up some tea for them. After a moment, McGonagall entered the office scowling. "Albus, you really must tell Sybil to leave the death predictions alone. I just had another hysterical Gryffindor in my office –" she stopped when she noticed the Gryffindor five.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily. "Calm down Minerva, I was just going to tell some of your students about the ball."

McGonagall turned to the five Gryffindors. "Oh, well this should be interesting." She commented quietly.

"Now, down to business. I was thinking the other day about how low many of the students sprits are. I decided that a ball would lift many spirits but then I really got to thinking. I really never got a chance to thank you for helping on the train. With your de-aging, the chaos of classes, order business, and everything else, I hadn't had a chance to publicly thank you. So I have decided to have the ball in honor of those who fought at the station." Dumbledore smiled at the thought. Harry groaned.

McGonagall spoke, "Now, Mr. Potter, you will of coarse be starting the dance with your friends from the Department of Mysteries."

Ron groaned, Draco continued smiling at his brother. He had escaped the spotlight for now.

"Mr. Potter you will join your brother as one of the main protectors of the train. You will also start the ball."

Draco joined his brother in sulking.

"I would also like to inform you that the press will be here, interviewing the Defense Association members."

Harry looked horrified at the thought. Voldemort could attend and he would have been less horrified.

Hermione looked agitated. Ron didn't dare try and make a remark about it. He still liked his skin intact.

"You will also be expected to make a speech explaining the Defense Association to the press."

Harry hit his head with his hand.

Draco and Ginny on the other hand, were more confused than anything.

"Sir why would you want to advertise to Voldemort and his followers that we are training to beat him?" Draco asked, confusion at the Headmaster's choice obvious in his voice.

"A very good question my dear boy! It is in fact part of the plan. You see you five are going to be receiving some special one on one training. This press issue is to push Voldemort out into the open and force him to speed his plans up. If he is forced to move his plans up, they will not be as fully prepared where as we will be." Dumbledore explained to the group.

"So basically you want to use it like a tactical advantage. What happens if he attacks Halloween?" Ginny asked. "After all, that would make it exactly 15 years after he first tried to kill Harry."

"We will be ready. We have an advantage, the secret apartment slows time. In two days, we can do a lot of training there." McGonagall answered with a smile.

Hermione thought for a moment. "What exactly will you be teaching us?"

End Flashback

Harry was startled out of his memory by Ginny. She whispered that they should get going for their last few hours of training before the ball.

They left the Room of Requirement by way of the door to the secret apartment. Draco, Ron, and Hermione were already warming up with simple spells and smiled at the two. They had been learning wandless magic, transfiguration in battle, strategy, complex spells, and defensive shields.

Each subject was taught by a different teacher. They took turns going to each teacher so they received individual help with each topic.

At the moment, Draco was practicing battle Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. It was one of his better skills and he was quickly progressing.

"Ok, now turn that desk into something to stop a charging enemy." McGonagall stated as she began to approach. Immediately, Draco had turned the desk into a wall of fire that completely blocked McGonagall's view of him.

McGonagall cast a spell to change the fire back but found it only grew. "Turn it back now Draco." She said simply and watched as it became a desk once more.

"How was that ma'am?" he asked.

"Good, but predictable for you. Try something else."

Draco concentrated and turned it into a metal magic proof cage that enveloped her.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the new form. "Very good. This is very complex magic Draco. Where or rather when did you learn such a thing."

"Living with Lucius did have some advantages. You learned how to defend yourself early on. This was a trick I learned to protect myself from Crabbe and Goyle." Draco replied, removing the cage.

"Your skill in Transfiguration is something you got from James. You should try becoming an animagi."

Draco said nothing. 'So I take after my father.' He thought before turning back to his lesson.

* * *

"Harry, concentrate on what you want the spell to do." Dumbledore instructed the young man.

Harry focused on the books that he wanted to float back to their shelves. It took a second but the books obeyed.

"Good. You need to practice at all times you can spare. For you, this is one of the most important things. Your wand doesn't work well against Voldemort and you need to be at your best." The white haired wizard sated simply.

"Yes, sir." Harry acknowledged and returned to his practice.

* * *

"Check."

Remus looked at the chessboard for a moment before mg a move.

"Checkmate." He said simply.

Ron searched the board frantically for a way it wasn't true.

"You need to learn your opponent quickly Ronald, then plan your strategy accordingly."

Ron looked at Remus then at the board again.

"Guess I need to practice more."

* * *

"Take it slow, Ms. Granger. We will work on speed after you get it down. Now let's try it again except slower." Flitwick's kind voice instructed the now irritated witch.

Hermione took a deep breath and tried the spell again. As she completed the spell she watched as a red flash came out of her wand and hit the practice dummy (A dummy that can move and talk). The dummy's legs locked as ropes wound around them before the upper portion of the dummy received numerous slashes as well as a stunning curse. The spell was designed to immobilize, temporarily wound, and stun the opponent.

Flitwick clapped and told her to do it again after he repaired the dummy.

* * *

Tonks shot a rather powerful curse at Ginny and watched as it was reflected off Ginny's shield back at her. Tonks put up a shield that would absorb the curse before she told Ginny to try a new shield.

"This one, if it is mustered, can protect up to three people from the Craticus curse. Problem with it is, while its up you can't attack from behind it. Works well for protecting innocents though."

Ginny listened as Tonks explained how to produce the desired result. Ginny nodded that she understood and waited for Tonks first attack. The curse came flying at her, a simple stunning spell, but went straight trough the shield.

Tonks sighed. This always took a while to learn. "Enerviate." She said waving her wand over Ginny.

* * *

After they had all had their sessions for the day. The five Gryffindors decided that lunch and a nap would be a good idea before facing the press.

Soon after they all woke and returned to regular time, the girls headed for the dormitories as the guys wandered about the school.

Since they had begun their lessons, the group had steadily gained power. They often had to try and restrain the power they were gaining while in class or just relaxing.

The three boys noted when they picked up a trail. Or rater, Draco noticed. It was the Slytherins that had de-aged the twins. Draco let a sad but satisfied smile cross his face as he turned and stunned them without thought.

They headed back to the tower to get ready (Draco had gone back to pleading) for the ball.

Draco raced past the other boys as he noticed the time. He hurried to take a quick shower and attempted to comb his hair (it acted like Harry's quite often) before pulling on his dress robes. He had bought new ones (he had hated the old ones) that were black satin with silver and ice blue dragons on the back of his right shoulder, the bottom left on the front of his robe, and one on the front of his robe just above his heart.

He tucked his necklace into his shirt and pulled his shoes on.

Harry came out of the bathroom just as Draco was about to leave. Draco had to admit, his brother looked the part of a hero, of coarse, he wouldn't be caught telling Harry that.

Harry's hair had lengthened a bit but only enough to calm it a little. It was still messy but to as if he had just gotten out of bed. The new roves he wore were deep red edged in god. His red necklace swung just high enough to be seen above the robe and Draco noted that it seemed to radiate in Harry's new power.

"Want me to come with you to meet her?" Harry offered.

"No, I can manage. You might want to gather the DA though." Draco said before leaving towards the Transfiguration classroom.

* * *

Many people smiled as they saw Harry in the common room. He seemed as confident as eve.

Harry sat on one of the chairs awaiting Ginny. Ron joined him wearing the dark blue dress robes Fred and George had given him.

They didn't have to wait long as Hermione descended the narrow staircase. She looked stunning in pale lavender dress robes and her hair done nicely into an elegant style.

Ron smiled and took her hand. "You look beautiful." He whispered.

Harry glanced back up the staircase when he heard a gasp.

Ginny was making her way down the stairs. She was wearing brilliantly white dress robes that seemed to shine with every step in the torchlight, the robes seemed made just for her and complemented her upswept red hair perfectly. Her face was framed by wisps of flaming red hair. She smiled at Harry as she tucked her arm in his and whispered that the robes were a gift from Fred and George.

Harry led the way out of the common room, the rest of the Gryffindor DA members following close behind.

* * *

Draco waited nervously before the Transfiguration classroom. 'Maybe Harry's pulling my leg. Maybe he never got me a date.' Just as he was thinking of leaving he heard footsteps approaching from behind him.

He turned slowly and was shocked at what he saw.

She had reddish black hair that was pulled back from her face but left to flow to her shoulders. She had eyes of the most unique color. They were a deep purple, so deep they were almost black and would have been if not for the flashes of color reflected by the torchlight. She wore robes of royal purple and stood about two inches shorter than him. She was pale, remarkably so, much like he used to be.

"Draco, right?" she asked quietly. "I'm Rachel."

He nodded and smiled before taking her arm and leading her back towards where the DA would meet.

"So what house are you? My brother refused to tell me a single thing about you."

"Ravenclaw. You've probably never seen me because I am only a fifth year. When your brother asked me to be your date, I was thrilled. Since I saw you on the train, I was intrigued by you. You had just met many of these people and yet you were risking your life for them."

I had met the people before. Only the first years were unknown to me." Draco corrected.

"I'm sorry I did not make my idea clear. I meant as a Potter, you had not met them before. You did not know the people for who they were. Thus, you had just met."

Draco thought for a moment about her reasoning. It was true of coarse, he had barely met many of them as Draco Potter.

They arrived at the meeting place, a smaller unused classroom down the corridor from the Great Hall. McGonagall would retrieve them when the time for their entrance came.

Draco looked concerned as his brother winced in obvious pain. Harry caught Draco's eye and motioned to a corner.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, my brother would like a word with me." Draco told his date.

He headed to meet Harry in the corner.

Harry whispered to his brother. "Be on guard, I feel Voldemort but I can't sense his thoughts. It worries me. It might not be anything but I don't wish to take chances." Harry warned his brother.

Draco nodded.

"So how do you like your date?" Harry asked, effectively changing he subject.

"I must admit, she wasn't what I expected from you. I figured you would stick me with Emily or her sister." Draco shuddered at the thought. "I was shocked you wouldn't be evil to me."

"Not this time. Maybe another time. I have to sit with you and your date all through dinner so I want to be able to stand her." Harry smiled and headed back to Ginny.

Just as Draco rejoined Rachel, Professor McGonagall entered.

"Time for your grand entrance." She stated as she looked at the group.

**A/N: This is probably the last update for about a week. I have to do a research paper so I'm a bit slow on the story. Have fun though.**


	38. The Halloween Ball

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and the help with the evil plot that is stuck in my head. I warn you now. All Hell is about to break loose in my life so it might be a while between updates. I shall try to update as soon as possible but that might be a while. Until then, enjoy.**

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Chapter 38: The Halloween Ball**

Professor McGonagall quickly instructed the DA (and the few dates that weren't) on how they were to enter the Great Hall. Those who fought at the ministry would come last with Draco, (who was included because of his new status as Harry's brother)Harry, and their dates coming at the end. The DA members would have tables reserved in the front with the last group sitting at a reserved table on the platform that had been created for the night.

As they reached the stage the group sat at the table while Dumbledore made a quick speech about why they were celebrating. He then called Harry forward to make his speech.

As Harry reached the podium, he noticed Rita Skeeter in neon orange robes with her Quick Quotes Quill ready. To the right of the table where he was sitting with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Remus, Tonks, and Moody, was a table of Order members that had been present on the train. To the left was a few tables filled with the Hogwarts Staff, and just in front of the other DA members was a table filled with Press members.

Harry took a deep breath. He was nervous. He could teach a hundred kids how to defend themselves, face down Voldemort and live, rush into a fight with five other students against all odds, but he was nervous about a speech.

He took another deep breath and began hesitantly. "Um… Welcome. I would like to begin by thanking you all for coming. I'll try to make this short.

Before you today are students who made a choice this year or last year to not stand by and remain helpless. Last year as you may or may not know, we were given a Ministry appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. As the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, she refused to allow us to learn practical application of the spells despite Voldemort having returned. Many of the students decided that if she refused to teach them, I would. We created the Defense Association to help students learn to defend themselves and survive in the world where war is now happening. We trained for months and many of the students quickly became excellent duelists. We never relied how quickly those skills would be needed. This year as the students boarded the Hogwarts Express, it was attacked. The Defense Association fought hard along side the Aurors, preventing the Death Eaters and Dementors from harming the students. The results of the efforts was a death toll of zero.

Upon return to the school the DA was made an official club. Every member old and new has worked hard to meet the standards needed." Harry allowed Hermione to take over.

"My name is Hermione Granger, I am the secretary of the DA. Harry has asked that I explain the new organization to you. We will be dividing the DA, which has grown too numerous into 3 groups. Each group will have a different skill set and will learn different things at each skill set." Hermione let everyone think of what this can bring. "We will need volunteers to teach the beginning levels so we can reduce the student teacher ratio."

Harry took over with a quick note for everyone to have a good time and joined Ginny at the table on the stage. Camera flashes went off and chatter began as dinner was served.

Dinner was filled with pleasant conversation completely void of such topics as Voldemort, Umbridge, and other such things. That is until the reporters began harassing the group. It wasn't even Rita Skeeter that was bugging them. (Pun intended.) In fact, it was the other people who did so. Apparently, they didn't realize Harry and Draco's dislike of the press.

"Mr. Potter" both boys turned. "Can you demonstrate for us some of what you teach these students?"

"At the moment, no. I really would prefer to continue my dinner with my brother and our friends in peace. I do not feel like being displayed for your amusement.

"Brother?" one of the reporters asked.

"Yes, Draco here is my twin." Harry answered simply.

"Your revelation that you have a brother is quite sudden and unexpected. How is it that he all of a sudden appears with no record of him before it?"

Harry sighed. "For protection purposes, we were separated at birth. While I was hidden away with my relatives, Draco was hidden somewhere else. Due to circumstances beyond control, he was no longer able to stay hidden and we were reunited."

By this point, Draco was getting angry. The press was infuriating him with their questions.

"Hey can you lot just leave us alone. My brother might bloody care about pleasing the wizarding world by appearing to be the Gryffindor Golden boy, but you are delving deep into our lives now. This ball is not about us, its about the DA. Why don't you ask questions about that if you must ask questions?" Draco quickly stated to put the press in their place.

The press was quiet for a moment before they retreated. Draco had apparently gotten his point through to them, for the moment at least, and they knew what these boys were capable of.

The ball started with the four couples dancing to a waltz before other couples joined. Harry and Ginny rejoined the others at the table after a few dances to talk to Dumbledore and McGonagall.

Draco and Rachel were still on the dance floor, happily chatting as they danced.

"So what do you do when you aren't helping your brother teach and causing trouble?" Rachel asked him.

"Quidditch, chess, the usual. We really haven't known each other for very long so most of my time is trying to figure out my brother and learn about my parents. I'm also trying to gain some friends so my time is mostly spent making up those lost years."

Rachel was quiet for a moment. "Must be hard finding out that you are really Harry Potter's brother."

Draco thought about it before answering. "Not really. I don't really think of him as Harry Potter. When I first met him as Draco Potter, we were not in the best of situations. It was when we were living with my mother's muggle sister and her magic hating family. That helped us gain a bond of sorts and some common ground. After we got out of there, we had time to adjust instead of just survive."

They continued dancing in silence.

Harry smiled at his brother. At least he liked his date. Harry returned to his conversation with Ginny. They had spent the time getting to know each other in-between dances as well as socializing with the other members of the DA and the order.

Time passed quickly and all too soon they were off to bed. Harry smiled as he noticed Hedwig waiting for him in the dorm with a letter in her beak. Harry took the letter from her and set it on his bedside table. He would read it in the morning. It looked to be from Dudley, but he was too tired to open it.

The two boys fell fast asleep unaware of the danger their cousin would soon be in.

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A/N: I'm finished! Sorry people, it seems like everything has been trying to stop me from finishing this chapter. I finally finished my research paper and what not. As it gets closer to graduation, the chaos begins. Thanks again for the help with my plot idea. I made my decision so enjoy when I reveal it.**


	39. Happenings

**Disclaimer: Go look at an earlier chapter. Too lazy to write one on this chapter.

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A/N: I know what you are thinking. 'Its about Bloody time.' sorry life is chaotic. Prom is next saturday so its even worse now. Enjoy though.**

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Chapter 39: Happenings

Harry woke early as was a habit learned from living with the Dursleys for so long. His dorm mates would be sleeping late s it was a Saturday and they had been up late the night before. He, on the other hand, decided to use the time to read his letter from Dudley, write a response, and get some work done before the others woke.

As he settled in the common room to read the letter, he was surprised to see Ginny join him.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked.

"I couldn't sleep. Too busy thinking about what last night meant for us." Ginny stated not meeting his eyes.

"What do you mean, Gin?"

"We told the whole world that we were preparing for the fight against Voldemort, which will make him move up his plans. I'm worried that not all of us will survive. I'm afraid, Harry, I'm afraid of losing my brothers, my parents, you, Hermione, everything and everyone I ever loved." Ginny still refused to look at him as she spilled her heart to him.

"I can't promise you that no one will get hurt, Gin. I can't promise no one will die, but I can promise we will try and keep everyone safe. Ginny, I never told anyone about the prophecy me and Draco will have to fulfill, but its either us or Voldemort. I'm scared too Gin. That is why I never wanted anyone to get too close to me. Everyone that gets close to me ends up in great danger. My brother and I are the ones Voldemort wants to kill, he is willing to go through anything and anyone to get to us. Promise me that in the final battle, you will not get in the way. I don't want to see you hurt because of me." Harry pushed Ginny's chin up so he could look her in the eye. "Promise me Gin."

"I promise, Harry."

It was silent for a moment as they both thought of what this meant for them.

Ginny broke the silence. "Harry, I was thinking about us. Do you like me in the same way I like you, or do you think of me like a little sister that needs protecting?"

"At first, I thought of you as a little sister, then I became busy with everything that was happening and didn't get to think about my changing feelings. I know my feelings have changed, and I know that I am attracted to you, but I don't know what to expect or where I want this to go. I don't want you at risk."

Ginny thought about that for a moment. "I'm already at risk. I'm an active member of the DA. I fought along side you at the ministry and the station, and my family is one of Dumbledore's biggest supporters. Its not like being your girlfriend is going to make me much higher on his hit list."

Harry nodded in agreement. "That's true. Maybe we could be official and whatnot."

They settled into a comfortable silence. Harry opened the letter form Dudley and began to read.

_Dear Harry,_

_I was shocked to hear how much trouble you and Draco caused in such a short amount of time. The fact that you were turned into little kids was also slightly shocking. If there is a formula to make someone younger, witches and wizards could sell it and make a fortune. Oh, well I guess you have your reasons for not doing so._

_I noticed some of the people from that weird place we stayed at were around the school for a while. I don't know what they were looking for, but I don't think they found it. They left a few days ago, but now things are happening around here again. I keep seeing this old hag wondering around the school, but she's not in sight when other people are around. Its quite creepy if you know what I mean._

_I'm making friends here. Not many, but enough to make the place seem more friendly. My new best friend, Mark, is nothing like Piers was. He lies to pain. He's teaching me how so I can join him sometimes. I haven't told him about you and Draco yet, but he isn't pushing me to reveal things bout myself. How is Draco by the way? I'm trying to remember to write you both, but sometimes its hard._

_Well I better go. Class starts soon and I really shouldn't be caught writing something other than notes for this class. Hope you are all ok._

_Dudley_

Harry smiled at his cousin's seemingly cheerful attitude. Harry jumped when Ginny asked him what he was smiling about.

"I forgot you were there. My cousin seems to be happy where he is. Though I am beginning to worry. From his letters it appears someone is out to hurt him."

"Ask Dumbledore to send some Order members to check on him. If anything is going on, they would be able to find out."

"According to Dudley they've already been there. He says the danger went away for a while but its back now. I hate to say it but I'm worried and I think we might have to bring him here where there are people who can watch over him."

Ginny watched Harry for a moment.

"You know Harry, you worry so much about everyone else's safety that you never take time for yourself. Its noble, but at the same time, its kind of sad. You must be one of the most stressed people on earth."

"Yeah but now I've learned how to share my worries. Its better than when I used to bottle all my emotions. Dumbledore regretted that the most I think. Now though, I have a guardian to help me worry about my safety so I will probably relax more once I get used to having someone looking out for me."

"Anyway, here's a question. How do you plan on telling Ron you are dating his baby sister?"

Harry suddenly paled. "I forgot about your brothers. I think I should avoid your other brothers for a while. Ron I can handle, the others I'm not so sure."

Ginny laughed. "So what do you think about Draco and Rachel? Do you think they will end up together?"

"That depends on Draco. See he has hid his true self from people for years now and it will take her a lot of effort to get through the barriers to him. As his brother, I can fight my way through quicker but he still isn't even completely open with me."

Before Ginny could answer, Ron decended the stairs. "There you are." He said upon seeing Harry.

Harry began to mark the exits for when he told Ron about what they had discussed.

"What are you looking so anxious for? Its not like you were making a move on my sister."

"About that Ron…"

**A/N: Finally finished! This has taken me forever to type. I even worked on it on my vacation so you people better be happy. Until next time.**


	40. Planning for the End

_**A/N: I'm so sorry its taken this long, first I had writers block, now I'm in college and can't seem to find time to write much. Its really quite frustrating. Hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long. I sincerely hope this was worth the wait. Once again I apologize for the waiting, and will get to work on the next part as soon as possible. (I have a laptop now so it shouldn't be as hard). Thank you for your patience and your reviews. Keep reviewing, it makes me want to write quicker.**_

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**Chapter 40: Planning for the End (of Voldemort, not the story)**

"Er...Ron," Harry shifted nervously, ready to run for the exit at a moments notice.

Ron glanced at his sister then back to Harry before adopting a confused look. "You can't have been making a move on my sister, because quite honestly, I've never seen you make a move on any girl. It's beginning to worry me in fact mate. Even I, the slow-witted one as Hermione often tells me, made a move before you."

"Er..yeah. Well, Ron I must admit-" Harry tried to think of a way to not get himself jinxed.

"Just leave us alone, Ron. You really can't say much about making a move on Hermione, because we had to trick you into doing that. If I want to date Harry, I can, and there is nothing you and the other prats I call brothers can do about it, so just leave it and us alone." Ginny interrupted Harry's attempt to explain.

Ron looked like he was about to burst. "So you are dating now?" he asked watching as Harry again shifted nervously.

"Yeah, I guess so." Harry replied, his voice shaky. Ginny may not have been afraid of her brothers, but he certainly was. When people like Fred and George could be after you, it was normal to be a little frightened.

"Its about bloody time!" Ron exclaimed smiling at the shock on their faces.

"Wha-how?" Harry stuttered his confused mind unable to phrase a question.

"My sister has been after you since our second year and I'm not blind. I've noticed how close you've got to my sister. Not to mention the fact that Hermione has noticed it. Mum will be happy." With that Ron began to move towards the portrait hole before stopping once more. "You coming to breakfast?"

Ginny stared at her brother then looked over at Harry's slack-jawed expression. "Close your mouth Harry." She giggled. "Come on boys, I'm hungry." Ginny proceeded to pass both boys before they even knew what had happened.

Ron shrugged and waited for Harry to catch up before heading out of the common room. "I'm happy that you two finally hooked up. I was beginning to worry about you, mate. Maybe Ginny can get you to relax a bit more and tell her things that you won't even tell Hermione and me. Hopefully she can help you carry that weight you think you have to carry."

Harry smiled before running to catch up to Ginny. Ginny rolled her eyes at her new boyfriend and took his hand as they entered the Great Hall. Very few people were at breakfast yet and they took the time to enjoy the quiet. It wasn't often you got such a thing at a school like Hogwarts.

Just as the Hall started to fill up, Draco and Hermione showed up at the table. Harry took this opportunity to tease Hermione about sleeping in. "Come on Mione, Ron of all people was up before you. Draco has never been an early riser, but Mione I'm ashamed of you. Sleeping in when there is still homework to be done." Harry smiled teasingly at her.

Draco, always perceptive, noticed how close Ginny and Harry were sitting on the bench. He raised a questioning eyebrow at his brother. "And what have you been up to so early in the morning?" he asked looking pointedly at Ginny.

"What? Oh yeah. Ginny and I are dating now. Oh by the way we got a letter from Dudley. After you read it I'm going to give it to Dumbledore. I'm worried about it." Harry told his brother as he handed him the letter from Dudley. Hermione was surprised that Ron hadn't been angry at Harry's declaration of his dating Ginny. She looked confusedly between them.

Ron noticed this (Harry was watching Draco read the letter) and explained. "I actually think its great that they are dating like this. It saves us the energy of trying to get him to open up to all of us when Ginny can now get close to him in a way that we never can. It should help him loosen up a bit as well. Don't get me wrong though, if he hurts her he will feel the full wrath of the Weasley clan but until then…"

Harry was watching Draco carefully to see what his reaction was to the letter. "This is strange Harry. If it wasn't against the rules, I would want to go get him out of there myself. Only we have a guardian now so we can't exactly do it. Here give it to Dumbledore and maybe he can do something to help Dudley. I mean I'm starting to get attached to the fat bloke."

"You afraid of breaking the rules? What is this world coming to?" Harry faked shock.

"Yeah well I figure we shouldn't outright disobey the rules when our guardian is the HEADMASTER! Our punishments don't just last thorough school now. And honestly I think that leaving campus to go to a school we don't know the location of to rescue our cousin from some unknown danger without using magic in front of muggles is not the brightest idea you've ever had. Not to mention explaining to Dudley's teachers why were not in school."

"Point taken." Harry said and walked up to the head table to give the letter to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked up from his meal when Harry approached. "What can I do for you my boy?" he asked cheerfully his eyes twinkling at the site of Harry.

"Sir, we just got this letter from Dudley. From the sound of it, Dudley is in trouble. Draco and I were wondering if maybe you could get him away from that school and better hidden or bring him here or ensure his safety somehow. We really don't want anything to happen to him." He explained as he handed the old man the letter.

Dumbledore glanced at the letter and frowned. "I am beginning to think that you are right. I was sure this would blow over if I sent an order member out there but it seems to have returned. I think that the only place your cousin would be safe at the moment is with you and your brother. I shall send Tonks to retrieve him this afternoon. I wish for you and your brother to come to my office before dinner tonight. We will have to discuss a few things." Dumbledore looked at Harry sternly. "Now I must warn you that you will be seeing many reporters around here. Fudge has determined that it would be a great boost for moral if parents knew what was going on here all the time. I personally think that he is just trying to keep tabs on the school and myself but that was the official reason he gave. With these reporters around we will have to keep your lessons a secret and I expect you and your brother to keep from getting caught in trouble. Times are going to be tense this year and I will need you to listen to my instructions at all times. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir." Harry replied taking the letter back.

"I'll see you before dinner." Harry left to relay what Dumbledore said to the group.

"The press is going to be staying around here? Bloody hell, we're bound to go insane." Draco moaned. One night in the company of such people as Rita Skeeter brought him to hate being referred to as "the lost twin" "The other potter" and other such titles that came along with appearing out of no where and claiming to be a Potter.

"Don't swear Draco." Hermione automatically stated as she read the newly arrived paper.

Ron leaned over her shoulder trying to get a look at the article about last night.

_At a ball hosted at Hogwarts to celebrate the safe return of students to the school despite the attack at the station, it was announced that Harry Potter was not as we believed an only child. Apparently Potter was one of two children born that night and he has now been reunited with his twin brother. Draco Potter, the twin, is said to be a Gryffindor Student recently sorted under his real identity instead of under the persona he had assumed._

_This announcement comes as a shock to the wizarding world as He who must not be named rises to power. Will You know who take vengeance on the two boys for their deception or is this just a ploy to throw You know who off?_

"You know somehow I would think they would grow bored of reporting on you Harry." Hermione said as she read the article.

"I don't think so Hermione." Ginny said suddenly. "I think the reason they do it is because the wizarding world needs a hero and who better to make a hero than the one person who survived being on Voldemort's hit list. I mean would you prefer the news to be about how great Fudge is as minister or how the aurors are failing to catch the Death Eaters or even how the ministry is corrupt beyond repair? People think that Harry is a hero and so they write more about him than what is going on in the world. His life is more interesting to people than their own lives."

Everyone thought about this for a while. "That is true, Gin, but that doesn't mean they have to know every detail of everything I do. I swear, half of the stuff Rita Skeeter wants to know is just so she can make me look ridiculous."

"Harry, remember, she's still under blackmail so you can use her to your advantage." Hermione tried to reassure him.

"Blackmail?" Draco asked confused.

"Hermione found out something about our dear Ms. Skeeter that would get her into a lot of trouble." Harry explained. Then turned to Hermione, "How do you suggest that I do that Hermione? I mean what can I do to get an advantage. Draco and I will still be in the news, we cant prevent that."

"True enough, but if you only give exclusives to Rita, we can control what is written about you that isn't public knowledge and can lure Voldemort out easier than if we tried to control more than one writer." Hermione quickly supplied an idea.

"That's bloody brilliant Mione." Ron exclaimed before receiving a smack for cursing.

"So what should we let her know?" Draco asked the group. They began to form a plan to draw Voldemort from the safety of his hideout. It was time to end the game.


End file.
